


Prisoners of Love and Hate

by DameoftheDark



Series: Dani Phantom [11]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU where danny sam and tucker are the opposite gender, F/M, Johnny 13 is actually nice to Dani, Sexual Content, but everyone else isn't, but its directed at Walker so its fine, some violence, with some of the worst of it towards the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2020-12-28 14:21:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 55,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameoftheDark/pseuds/DameoftheDark
Summary: With the ghost hunters gone, things in Amity Park can finally return to normal. Dani goes back to her regular activities, including studying, hanging with her friends, and training with Vlad. For their next session, the charming older half ghost decides to take Dani deep into the Ghost Zone. It is here that they meet Walker, a ghost who has it out for Vlad Plasmius. Fortunately, he lets the two of them go, but when the ghost girl treks back into his Region looking for a gift her mentor had given her, Vlad is forced to go after her, landing them both in the Ghost Zone Prison. With Plasmius in solitary confinement, Dani has to team up with an unlikely ally in order to break her and her boyfriend out. But with the likes of Skulker, Ember, the Lunch Lady, and numerous other ghosts vying for a piece of her, will Dani be able to escape the prison with her person completely intact?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this took a while! Given how long this took to write, I don't think I'll be able to post the next chapter by the end of the month, but I will make sure that's up that by or during the first week of November. I hope you enjoy this next installment!

The weekend had gone by quicker than the young heroine had anticipated. All the homework, studying, and practicing with her powers blurred together like a race car speeding by, leaving behind all the anxious thoughts and antsy desires. She hadn’t the time to ponder the things she didn’t want to, but all the time to get her work done---perhaps she had finally found the happy medium?

Even that Monday had passed her by without a pause. None of her tormentors bothered her, no ghosts appeared to take up her studying time, and none of her teachers were too unreasonable. All the schoolwork she was assigned for the next day, and even over this new week, was nothing that she couldn’t handle. Heck, she’d even gotten a head start.

Sam, for one, was quite impressed.

“Since when were you this serious about working ahead?” he asked, leaning over to her. They, in addition to the techno whiz, were sitting in the cafeteria for lunch, with the ghost girl sharing one side of the table with the nonconformist. Tucker, instead, sat across from them.

“I guess I’ve just been feeling motivated,” the half ghost heroine said with a shrug.

“How unlike you to be so into schoolwork, Dani,” Tucker said as she leaned on her elbows. “You must be in really good mood.”

“I wouldn’t know about that,” she began, taking a bite of her bean and cheese burrito. “Like I said, I’ve just been feeling driven to keep up.”

“I for one am really pleased to see you getting serious about your work,” the rebel praised with a grin. “For a while there, you were dipping pretty far.”

“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” the blue-eyed teen asked. Had her feelings regarding Vlad preoccupied her that much? At first, she had a crush on him, then she fell in love with him, and then she was constantly dealing with doubts and persistent negativity. Sadly, some of those doubts had returned.

“Oh, it was bad,” Sam stressed, holding a piece of celery to his lips. “And The Need certainly didn’t help.”

“Oh yeah! How has that been going for you?” Tucker inquired.

“I haven’t felt it in a while,” Dani professed. Had it finally subsided for good? Although, now that she was with Vlad, it made sense. Then she wondered, had he ever felt it?

She’d have to ask him about it later.

“So I guess it **was** connected to Vlad after all,” the geek said playfully, wearing quite the cocky smirk.

“H-how did you know?”

“‘Cause I’m not an idiot.”

“The jury’s still out on that one,” Sam commented, munching on his celery.

Tucker sent him a nasty glare before looking back at Dani. “It had to be ghost-related, dude. And frankly, it wasn’t hard to figure out that it was because of your man.”

“Kitty told me more about it,” the ghost girl admitted. “She said that I felt it like I did because I was only half ghost---that ghosts feel that kind of burning desire in their hearts, but because they’re not corporeal they don’t feel it physically.”

“But you did.”

“Right, and it’s ‘cause Vlad’s my One and Only.”

Both the other teens stared at the heroine, with Tucker baring a delighted visage and Sam looking like he was about to choke.

“Awww!”

“Well, what I mean is that he’s my…you know…ghostly soulmate. See, ghosts have bonded partners that they're destined to be with. All ghosts have one, and Vlad is mine,” she enlightened bashfully, a slight blush rising in her cheeks.

“That’s the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard, and I love it!” the computer geek enthused. “That’s so adorable!”

“Adorable, huh?” Sam muttered, dipping his celery stick into a pack of hummus.

“Very,” Tucker emphasized, whipping her head in his direction. “And you know what that all means? You’re gonna have to give up on Dani now.”

“Ghosts have these ‘One and Onlys’, but Dani’s only a half ghost.”

“So?”

“It may be different for her.”

The young girl felt that familiar heart-sinking feeling. She hadn’t thought of that before. She and her mentor weren’t full ghosts, so did that mean that their hearts weren’t forever tied to each other?

Was is possible to fall out of love? Could Vlad still have feelings for her mom after all?

Tucker huffed. “If you wanna keep chasing something that’s unattainable, that’s your business. But I’m telling you, it’s not gonna go the way you hope.”

“I think I have the right to decide that for myself.”

The ghost girl put her burrito down, no longer feeling hungry.

“Say, guys, can we change the subject?” she asked.

“Why, is something wrong?” the goth inquired, concern adoring his youthful features.

“No, I just don’t want you to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day,” she deflected, smirking at her black-clad friend. “Every time we talk about Vlad, you always get soar.”

“Yeah, and it's starting to get old,” the techno geek said as she shook her head.

“Well **excuse me **for not liking the guy,” Sam defended.

“If **that **isn’t the understatement of the decade.”

The goth glared at Tucker, earning him a toothy grin in response.

He just rolled his eyes.

Now Dani yearned to see her older mentor again. Her heart felt heavy, saddened by what they had just discussed. Perhaps seeing him would assuage her fears somewhat?

_I don’t want to talk to him about this. I’m too afraid of what the answer will be. But maybe I’m just being paranoid? Vlad has expressed his love for me so many times now, and he told me that he was over mom, so why am I still so worried about it? _

She felt like kicking herself or the nearest wall.

“Today’s your training session, right?” Tucker asked yanking the ghost girl out of her thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“Bet you can’t wait to see your beloved boyfriend,” the techno whiz teased, once again leaning on her elbows and resting her chin on her intertwined fingers.

In reply, the half ghost heroine laughed nervously.

After swallowing a mouth-full of hummus-drowned celery, Sam eyeballed Dash and Paulina, who were arguing over the buzz of the lunchroom. They had garnered the attention of other students, those that were clearly interested in the verbal showdown.

“Pathetic,” the rebel teen mumbled.

“What, that?” Tucker asked as she pointed toward the bickering couple.

“What else?”

“That’s the umpteenth time they’ve fought,” Dani noted. “Last time it was about him not going on a trip to Cape Cod with her and her family.”

“So what’s the catalyst this time?” the techno whiz asked in a bored tone. “Let me guess, it’s about him not noticing her new haircut, him not going with the mall with her yesterday, or him not bringing her chocolates just because she existed?”

“Paulina got a new haircut?”

“It’s just sad,” Sam said in a criticizing way. “And annoying.”

“Why would you stay with someone you can’t stand?” Tucker questioned. “And then force the rest of us to endure your **very loud **arguments?”

The young half ghost watched Paulina poke Dash in the chest with rather indignantly with a manicured nail. Frankly, it was a wonder how they had stuck together this long. Most of the school had given them a few days, or a week tops.

It had been almost a month.

But it was clear that they were a bad match. They had little to nothing in common, had vastly different interests, and had no sympathy together. In fact, the only thing that connected the two was their circle of friends.

“There has to something they see in each other…” Dani said under her breath. Otherwise, it made no sense.

“Like what? That they’re both evil incarnate?” Tucker jabbed.

“No, Dash isn’t evil,” Sam started, putting the lid back on his hummus container. “Just moronic.”

“I mean, ‘cause you’re right. Why would they stay together if there wasn’t something that they shared?” Dani asked.

“They share a hate for nerds,” The computer geek offered.

“It would have to be something more than that.”

“Why does any young couple stay together when they have nothing else?” the rebel lead. “‘Cause the sex is good.”

“Sam! That’s disgusting!” Tucker shouted, grabbing her throat. “I’m gonna be sick just thinking about that!”

“Definitely not an image I wanted to picture in my head,” the young heroine admitted, looking just off to the left (and away from Paulina and Dash).

“If your entire relationship is solely based on lust, it’s doomed to fail,” the goth explicated.

The ghost girl gazed at her friend. He wasn’t wrong, and the recent rise of failing marriages added to that fact. People who dated each other just for the sex were people that didn’t have much to offer anyway---at least, to one another. Eventually, that lust would go away, leaving the couple with a sense of emptiness. What did they have left? Nothing. No activities to indulge in, no subjects to talk about, no chemistry to work off of.

That wasn’t Vlad and her. She knew that even if there were doubts, they had something truly special. The two were connected in a way that regular people could never understand. Yes, there was a significant age gap, and yes, they looked at things differently, but they understood one another. Wildly differing in age meant that, in some ways, they were worlds apart, but that hadn’t been much of an issue. They could talk to each other, they could confide in one another. She could admit, however, that they may have had different hobbies--but, once again, that hadn’t been an issue as of late.

That just meant that she had to get him into video games.

Dash yelled at the top of his lungs, warranting the attention of the entire cafeteria. He was shouting now, berating Paulina for getting upset about something he apparently deemed ridiculous.

Well, in response, she **screamed**.

She accused him of not understanding anything, that he was a massive idiot for not recognizing the importance of missing the Valentine’s Day Dance.

Evidently, they had planned to go together, but something came up for Dash and he could no longer go.

Something about his family going on a business trip that week.

“A likely story,” Tucker mused. “Looks like he’s wised up.”

“I don’t know, maybe Dash has to go on the trip,” Dani stated, looking back at her friends.

“If it's for his dad’s work, then why does **he **have to go?” the goth questioned. “Moreover, why would they plan to go together to a dance that’s so far in advance?”

“Maybe ‘cause they thought they’d still be together by then.”

“That’s just wishful thinking,” Tucker remarked.

“You’re weirdly sticking up for them Dani,” Sam pointed out. “Do you think that they’re meant to last or something?”

“What, no,” the ghost girl disputed, wearing a disgruntled expression. “That’s gross.”

The techno geek laughed. “Yeah, totally!”

Sam just rolled his eyes. “Whatever. It just seemed like you were strangely invested in them.” 

“Absolutely not,” Dani said as she stuck her tongue out. “Just blame it on playing devil’s advocate.”

“Sure.”

The heroine had to wonder though, why did she unintentionally stick up for them? Was this some strange projection where she saw Vlad and her in them and was secretly hoping that they would stay together because their relationship was a reflection of her’s and the billionaire’s?

What a ludicrous notion.

“Anyway, enough of the terrible twos over there,” Tucker said while pointing at Dash and Paulina with her thumb. “What’s next on our agenda?”

“Uh, English?”

The nonconformist crossed his arms over his chest. “We should probably patrol tonight. Just because there wasn’t any ghost activity last night doesn’t mean there won’t be any later today.”

“Yeah, but we’ll have to do it alone,” the computer geek said before looking at Dani.

“What?” the young girl asked.

“Are you gonna be able to patrol with us?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Your session with Vlad?” Tucker reminded.

“That won’t be a problem,” the ghost girl dismissed. “I’ve been able to patrol on days where I’ve had my training sessions.”

“Just making sure.”

Dani retrieved her burrito and took another bite, feeling her hunger return just a fraction.

“Just don’t let him run you ragged,” Sam requested, his tone dry.

“I’ve been getting a lot better with his help. I think I can handle whatever he has to throw at me.”

“Careful, or that arrogance will be the death of you,” Tucker warned in a teasing manner.

“Hasn’t killed me yet,” the heroine joked back.

************

Though flying would have been faster, Dani decided to ride her bike to the billionaire’s home. The air was chilly, yes, but it was full of the smell of leaves and hints of wood, which served to soothe the soul. It was a calming scent, bringing with it images of vibrant red, orange, and yellow trees. Luckily, those images weren’t just contained within the girl’s mind; Amity Park was abundant with these trees, with their branches gently swaying in the breeze.

Luckily, the ghost girl wore a scarf today, a thick and fluffy pink scarf that went well with her white woven sweater. She held the scarf over her lip, thus shielding it from the brisk air. As she sighed contently, her baby blue eyes looked around her, watching the houses and the people go by. Everyone was covered in layers, with a few wearing sweatshirts under jean jackets or over what were probably long-sleeved tops.

The heroine closed her eyes for a brief moment. The seasons were indeed changing, and so was she. She had reflected on this many times, as she had during lunch that ever day, but here she was again, thinking about how her life continued to change. First, she got her ghost powers over 6 months ago, and then she had to start fighting the ghosts that poured out from the Ghost Zone.

After that, she went to her parents’ college reunion, only to meet someone she never expected to. Then she fell in love with that someone, praying to God that she could keep that love in her heart. Subsequently, after only knowing each other for a short while, he professed his love for her.

Life was funny that way, wasn’t it?

She let out another sigh, though this one was light. A smile spread across her face and her eyes echoed a sense of tranquility once she opened them. Yes, doubts had bubbled back up to the surface, but in this moment, looking back on everything that had happened, she couldn’t help but feel weightless.

She knew that things would continue to change, and in the calming mood of the moment, she knew that she could face it head-on, knowing that Vlad would be at her side.

Of course, in another hour, she would probably become a wreck again.

_It's part for the course of being a teenager. _

The young girl pedaled faster once she reached an incline, one that took her up to the gates of Mayor’s Grove. Before the guard could see her, Dani turned invisible and raced right through.

On the other side, she giggled and became visible again. Hal Hughes didn’t look any more friendly than he had when she first saw him.

“Looks like some things never change.”

Dani continued on her way until she reached that familiar navy-blue abode. She parked her bike on the lawn and walked up to the porch, her heart skipping a beat.

Would she ever get over this feeling, this giddiness? She hoped not.

She never wanted these feelings to go away. She never wanted to lose the emotional manifestation of her love for Vlad.

She never wanted to lose **him**.

Timidly, she knocked on the door. Sure, phasing through it would be much quicker, but she wanted to savor the giddiness for as long as possible.

Though she knew that even when that door opened, the feeling would only intensify.

She heard a click---a quick sound---and then the door was pulled back, revealing Vlad Masters in all his glory. He was dressed in his usual attire, black suit with a thin red cravat has his chest. His long, beautiful silver hair was tied into its usual ponytail, and his loafers shone with their typical, dignified shine.

His face bore a smile, one born from fondness and respect. An arm hung behind his broad back, which was as straight as a board. Indeed, his posture was as distinguished as his very reputation.

“Hello, Danielle,” he said.

“Hey,” she replied, her face feeling warm.

“We’ve much to do,” the billionaire stated, stepping out of the way so that she may enter. “Come.”

She walked past him and into his foyer. He closed the door and proceeded to stroll to the basement stairs, its own door open. Dani followed him down into the lab, noticing that the ghost portal was wide open---the swirling vortex of green ectoplasm on full display.

“One moment,” the tycoon requested, suddenly reaching into his breast pocket. “There was something I wanted to do first.”

“What is it?” the girl asked curiously. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to give you something.”

The heroine cocked her head. “What for?”

When he looked at her, her heart nearly stopped. The expression on his face could only be described as complete and unequivocal devotion; his navy orbs, on their own, conveyed such affection, that it was impossible to deny its existence. His lips also curved into the sweetest smile, igniting all the embers within the ghost girl’s soul.

“For being my little badger,” he said, his words laced with honey.

He pulled his hand out from his pocket and within it was a small blue box, a blue that matched his eyes. In the middle of the lid of the box was a name and an image of a swan, both the color of silver. 

“What’s that?” Dani asked, her voice almost too quiet.

Without a word, Vlad opened the box. Inside was a small pendant--- a “D” made of tiny pink diamonds attached to a silver chain.

Dani stared at the pendant in awe. Her mind had gone completely blank. The only thing she could think to do was blink.

The older man held it out to her, still remaining silent.

“You…” she began, looking between it and him. “You got me this?”

“Naturally,” he said, his own voice calm. “I know that you aren’t one for feminine attire or accessories, but I wanted you to have something that was becoming of you.”

“It’s…it’s so pretty…”

“I went with something simple, not too flashy,” he explained. “Because I knew you’d be taken aback by a pendant of that sort.”

“You didn’t have to---”

“I know, but I wanted to.”

_Why? Why is he this kind? Why is he this sweet? Why is he so thoughtful? Doesn’t he know how much his kindness kills me? _

Of course he didn’t, he wasn’t a mind reader.

“I…” she started, gathering her words. “I love it.”

His gaze was on her, his chest rising and falling so calmly.

“I really love it,” she reiterated, looking into his eyes. “It's beautiful.”

“So are you.”

Now bashful, she diverted her attention back to the pendant.

“You told you, didn’t I?” the businessmen lead, taking a step closer and taking the ornament out of the box. “You are beautiful, Danielle.”

The poor girl blinked several times, trying to keep her embarrassed but happy tears from spilling.

“You are the most magnificent thing in this world. Nothing can ever compare,” he proclaimed, holding the pendant up by the chain. The diamonds gleamed in the light of the lab, shimmering and delicate.

“W-well sure, you can say that because you’re in love with me,” Dani said in an attempt to seem dismissive of his words.

“It is because I am in love with you that I can see that,” he responded. “I can see just how grand, just how striking you are. I fell in love with you when I caught a glimpse of your majesty.”

“M-majesty?” she repeated, somewhat in disbelief.

“You think yourself clumsy and graceless, and perhaps that’s true…”

“Then what---”

“But I do no refer to you as magnificent for lacking inelegance. It is **because** of your silly and at times awkward demeanor. I adore your ungainliness, Danielle. I adore **you**.”

Dani was speechless. What on earth could she possibly say to that?

He took another step. “Shall I put this on?” he asked, holding up the pendant.

Tears licked at her eyes again. “Mm hmm.”

He offered a warm chuckle and walked behind her and then looped the ornament around her neck before fastening the clip, keeping it in place.

The “D” sat right at her sternum, nestled on top of her warm sweater.

The girl couldn’t help but stare down at it. It still glimmered under the light of the lab, but she figured that it would sparkle with quite a radiance in the autumn sun. Was she truly worthy of such a trinket?

Perhaps she shouldn’t question it.

“I knew it would suit you, Danielle,” the billionaire said kindly.

The heroine gazed up at her mentor, warmth in her own blue orbs. Was it even possible to fall out of love with this man? She didn’t think so. She never once thought that she would ever lose her feelings for him. From the day they meet, she knew he would be the one. Even if her mind didn’t know, her heart did.

Would he stay in love with her too?

As she fell into his navy eyes, she believed his love was forever as well.

If only she could keep believing that.

“S-so,” she began after clearing her throat.” You said we had much to do?”

“Yes,” he replied, turning to the ghost portal with his arms behind his back. “It has come to my attention that you have outgrown the training room. Therefore, the next logical step is the Ghost Zone itself.”

Dani’s gaze wandered to the ghost portal, her pupils following the swirl of ectoplasm.

“I’m gonna be training in the Ghost Zone now?”

“Indeed,” the older man said with a nod before looking back at her. “It’s the best place to become more acquainted with your powers. You’ll have plenty of room, so you won’t be in danger of breaking anything.”

The ghost girl’s mind was overcome with memories of a past session where she destroyed a collection of ghost-hunting inventions that Vlad was working on. In that same session, she also nearly obliterated the wall.

Cringe flooded her brain and she shook her head in response.

“I know of an area that is unpopulated by ghosts. One that, in point of fact, many do not dare to enter.”

“Why’s that?”

“Many of them believe it is dangerous,” the tycoon explained. “They believe that the risk of getting hurt of worse it too high.”

_Or worse?_

“Can ghosts actually get killed?” Dani asked, a sense of wariness slipping into her mind.

“No, for they are already dead,” the businessman stated. “But their existence can be erased.”

“‘Erased’?”

“When humans die, they can become ghosts, but even ghosts can cease to exist. It doesn’t happen naturally, as in over time, like it does with people. Rather, they can be destroyed.”

“So like, they…” She trailed off.

“Think of an exorcism. It’s akin to that.”

“Whoa…” Dani said quietly. She had no idea that full ghosts could be slain, even if it wasn’t quite the same as humans. She had to wonder then, did all ghost hunters “kill” or “exorcise” their catches instead of sending them back into the Ghost Zone like she did?

Did her parents destroy ghosts?

Although, they’ve never actually caught one before---but **would **they if they did? Did they want to destroy Dani Phantom?

That thought made her shiver.

“But, if ghosts think that this place is dangerous, they why are we training there?”

“Simple, Danielle, I have nothing to fear from that place,” he proclaimed with a cocky grin. “I’ve never encountered an enemy there that I couldn’t best.”

“Oh, so this is just you being arrogant,” the young half ghost remarked, adopting a grin of her own.

“I have good reason to be,” he replied, not at all wavered by her taunt.

The heroine crossed her arms. “You’re still so full of it.”

“Of course I am.”

“Don’t you ever get tired of being big-headed?”

“Not a bit.”

“Not even a little?”

“Nope.”

Dani rolled her eyes but maintained her grin. “What **was** I expecting?”

“One never gets tired of being right, Danielle,” he said as he leaned down in her direction, now looking at her at her eye-level.

She huffed. The ego that this man possessed was as large as the state of Texas.

“Now then, shall we?” he asked, gesturing toward the portal with an open palm.

“Sure thing, frootloop,” the blue-eyed teen remarked.

At the same time, the two half ghosts transformed into Dani Phantom and Vlad Plasmius. The latter then held out his hand, which the ghost girl graciously took. Then, the couple drifted into the Ghost Zone, flying right into the Region of Doors. It was a place that both half ghosts were well acquainted with, seeing as it was gateway into the greater Ghost Zone. Each door opened into another realm, different parts of the Ghost Zone that were either connected through time or space. Sometimes both. But each of them also held the potential for danger, hence why the heroine and her friends hadn’t tried to venture into many of them. On one of their first excursions into this otherworldly place, Dani had opened a door that revealed an oncoming train, one that suddenly adopted a menacing grimace and roared at them intently. It was truly a scene out of a cartoon---a very scary cartoon.

Dani gazed at her mentor as they flew side by side through the moaning plane. He looked confident, with a smirk situated on his vampiric face. He truly had nothing to fear here, if his expression was any clue. Although, the man had a massive ego, as evident by his earlier behavior. Regardless, he absolutely believed that he was top dog; his eyes just beamed, just radiated with a confidence that the young girl was envious of. How had he become so self-assured? Was he always this ballsy, or did his years of practice really make that much of a difference? Dani wasn’t sure why, but she had the feeling that he always just a bit cocky.

They flew for a good 15 minutes, where every so often the billionaire would glance at the ghost girl, making her smile shyly. It was true that she was becoming more comfortable around him with regard to intimacy, but every time she saw him look at her (and God forbid, smiled at her), it was like it was the first time he had done so.

Then Vlad floated to a nearby rock, where he came to a stop. Dani followed him and came to rest at his right, looking around at the desolate grey mass on which they stood.

“Is this it?” she asked in clarification.

“Yes,” he responded, once again putting his arms behind his back. “This is the place.”

“I see what you mean,” the girl started, her eyes scanning the area. “There’s no one here.”

“And thus, no distractions,” the older man added, wearing a coy smirk.

_Oh, I wouldn’t know about that, ‘cause I think I could label you a distraction. _

Not that she’d ever say so out loud.

“So, where do we start?” she inquired, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“I believe you are making good progress with hand-to-hand combat, so today we’re going to be focusing on your use of ecto-energy.”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“Not at all,” he specified as he put a hand up. “There is just so much you have left to learn. I believe you’ve seen me use it in a number of different ways.”

“Like, how you made it into a rope at the reunion or when you made a sword out of it on Halloween?”

“Exactly. I have learned to manipulate my ecto-energy into whatever I please. Now, I’m going to teach you how to do the same.”

“Oooo, I am **so **ready for this!” the young heroine said in excitement. She would get to learn how to make a sword out of her energy?

Sign.

Her.

Up!

“I certainly hope so,” Vlad said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Because this can be rather complicated, and you have to focus.”

“Focus shocus, I’m always focused!”

“Alright then, child,” he began in a teasing manner. “Why don’t you attempt to create something for me?”

“I am **not** a child,” Dani defended, furrowing her brow. “The term is ‘teenager’.”

“Which is a child.”

She huffed. “You said that you had no intention of treating me like a child, remember?”

“Yes, and do **you **remember when I said that in order to be treated as anything but, you had to **act** as anything but?”

Dani crossed her arms. “I don’t see how saying that I’m always focused makes me a child.”

“You lied.”

“Adults lie!”

“They’re better at it.”

“Vlad!”

He laughed, and even though she was a little miffed, his genuine laughter made her tummy feel light.

“Forgive me,” he said, smiling from ear to ear. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“Hmph.”

“Now now, don’t pout,” he said soothingly, stepping around her and stroking her shoulders from behind. “I was merely having some fun.”

The girl’s heart skipped a beat, against her better judgment, and her stomach filled with butterflies. Damn her adolescent hormones.

“Now, why don’t you create something for me?” he repeated, but his voice was low and right in her ear, causing her to shiver.

“O-O.K.,” she stammered, feeling his hands gently massage her shoulders. She took in a deep breath and produced a ball of energy in her palm, which she held up.

“Not bad, but you are used to creating these,” the billionaire noted, tilting his head to get a better look at the ball of green light.

“W-well, I don’t know how to make anything other than this, remember?”

“But of course,” the tycoon said, letting go of the girl’s shoulders and walking around to her front, his red eyes on the energy-ball.

Now Dani’s shoulders felt cold.

“How do you produce all that other stuff?” she asked.

“I said it takes focus, and that’s because it is solely based on will power.”

“Will power?”

“Indeed. You have to imagine what you want to create in your mind’s eye, and only with the strongest of focus can you manifest it,” he enlightened.

The ghost girl looked at the ball of energy in her hand. It was somewhat similar to how she created her ecto-energy blasts; for those, she simply channeled her energy through her arms and out her hands. When she was teaching herself how to do it before she met Vlad, however, she had to visualize it in her mind first. Now, it was almost automatic.

“Watch me,” the businessman instructed, and Dani did so. She watched as Vlad held up his palm while fuchsia energy began to manifest in it. Her green eyes gazed at the energy as it first seemed to turn into a ball, only for it to recede and grow outward, slowly forming a thin rod.

“Try to replicate what I have done,” the tycoon directed.

“I just have to think about making a rod instead of a ball?”

“And you have to focus,” he reiterated.

“Yeah yeah, I got it,” Dani stated with a hint of dismissal. She then looked at the glowing green ball in her hand, imaging a rod-like shape taking its place. She watched it closely, channeling some of her energy into the ball. It grew, but its shape did not change. Furrowing her brow, Dani tried again, keeping a picture of a thin line in her head. However, the ball only continued to grow.

“Start over,” the older man instructed, crossing his arms.

The basketball-sized energy ball vanished, and the young heroine took another deep breath. Once again, she imagined a rod-like shape in her mind as she went about creating another ball of energy.

However, just as before, all that appeared was another ball.

And, just as before, it merely grew in size.

“Are you picturing a different shape?” the billionaire inquired, but there was something in his tone that didn’t sit right with Dani.

“I am!” she refuted. “I am **picturing a different shape**!”

“Danielle, there is no need to mock me,” he stated in a calm voice. “You’re getting frustrated, but that’s no excuse to lash out.”

The girl sighed in irritation but said nothing else.

“Now, try it again.”

And she did, but with the same result. Her neon green eyes moved to her mentor, observing his face; his expression was cool, conveying neither annoyance nor encouragement.

Honestly, Dani wasn’t sure which was worse---the older man being impatient with her or not feeling anything whatsoever. Although, the more she thought about it, him being distant would probably be more distressing for her.

Even his body language looked closed off, seeing as his arms were still crossed. He mirrored a person who was merely observing a natural phenomenon---someone who would then react with a “huh” and possibly a nod of the head.

She glared.

“Try again.”

And she did.

“Again.”

And she did.

“Again.”

And she did, but her tolerance was fading fast.

The tycoon sighed. “Perhaps you’re not picturing it clear enough. You can’t be distracted, Danielle.”

“I’m not distracted!” she shouted in rebuke. “It’s just not working!”

“The only reason it’s ‘not working’ is because you’re not trying. You need to discipline your mind, focus your thoughts.”

“I **am **trying!”

“Not hard enough.”

“**What**?” Now she was pissed. How could Vlad just assume she wasn’t trying hard enough, she was giving it her all!

“You can’t allow any outside thoughts to divert your attention.”

“I’m not!”

“You obviously are, or you would be able to do what I am asking.”

“Or maybe you’re just not explaining it well enough!” the younger half ghost yelled with her fists clenched. She thought she understood what her mentor was talking about, but maybe she missed something?

No, it had to be his fault, he was being too vague, that’s all.

Yeah, that was it.

“Pardon?” Vlad asked with a puzzled visage.

“Yeah, ever thought that maybe you’re the one making this harder for me? Ever thought that maybe **you’re **just not teaching me effectively? Ever think that **maybe **you’re not so perfect after all?”

Now Vlad was frowning. “I don’t see how my hubris has anything to do with this.”

“And now you’re using words I don’t understand!” the young heroine chastised. “Stop acting like such a know-it-all!”

“It’s hardly my fault that your education is lackluster compared to mine,” he said with an eye roll.

“Oh, so now you’re saying I’m stupid??”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. I was referring to your schooling, not your intelligence.”

“But I bet you think that way, don’t you? You think that I’m stupid since I can’t do this---you think I’m stupid for always failing to do something right away!”

“What are you going on about?” the older half ghost questioned in an exasperated manner.

“During some of our sessions I don’t get things right away, unlike a certain **genius**, and I know that it irritates you,” Dani said as she crossed her arms and adopted an accusatory look.

“That’s ridiculous Danielle.”

“So I’m ridiculous now?”

“No, and as I said before, don’t put words in my mouth---”

“So you’re calling me a liar then?”

“Danielle, you are trying my patience,” Vlad proclaimed in a warning tone.

“Well maybe I wouldn’t be if you hadn’t been so condescending!”

Vlad rose an eyebrow “Condescending?”

“Yes! You sounded condescending! You sounded like you were belittling me!”

The older man’s eyes, which had taken on an irritable glow, now displayed surprise. Is that how he sounded to her? Was he being too harsh? Had he actually forgotten that she wasn’t like him, that her thought processes were different from his to begin with? The way she thought, the way she processed information was different than him, and this was due to a combination of her age, lack of experience, and lack of supreme intelligence.

Yes, she wasn’t as smart as he was, but he never once held that against her.

But she assumed he did. She had made that very clear.

“Danielle, I would never belittle you,” he reassured, walking over to her. “I apologize if my tone came off that way.”

Dani tried once again, if only to prove a point, but just as before it only grew. Once her energy ball was the size of a human head, she gave up by raising her arms abruptly into the air, thus extinguishing the energy.

“Argh!!”

Why couldn’t she do it? It sounded so easy!

And she **was** focusing!

“You don’t get everything on the first try, but that doesn’t matter,” Vlad assured, stroking a lock of Dani’s white hair between his gloved fingers. “I’ll let you in on a little secret; it took me a week before I could make a cube with my ecto-energy.”

“But I bet that you figured out the rest pretty quickly,” the ghost girl muttered in irritation.

“Well, that’s either here nor there.”

_Of course he was able to figure all this stuff out. Vlad’s a genius; he’s way too smart to **not **figure out all this stuff about his powers. And hell, he was able to do it **alone**. I can’t even get it when he’s here teaching me. _

_He’s too good for me. He’ll probably lose patience with me in no time. If I were mom, I’d---- _

Dread flowed through her veins.

She did it again---compared herself to her mother. It wasn’t hard to do though, considering the noticeable differences between them. Unlike her, Maddie Fenton was brilliant, wise, quick-witted, and beautiful.

But hadn’t Vlad told her that **she** was beautiful too?

She wanted to believe that, she really did, but how much did **he **really believe it? He really seemed to earlier when he gave her that pendant.

_The pendant…_

Dani looked down at her sternum, seeing the pendant resting there as it had back in the lab. It was no longer glimmering since the Ghost Zone lacked any natural (or in this case, ordinary) light. In fact, the light it did possess was manufactured by ectoplasmic energy, thus it didn’t cast any shadows on its own.

She had to believe that Vlad truly thought she was beautiful, after all, his declaration of such had seemed so sincere.

If only she could believe it herself.

“I’m sorry,” she said meekly, unable to meet his eyes.

“I understand your frustration, Danielle, believe me,” he comforted. “I was in your position 20 years ago. But since I have been there and done that, as you would say, I know how to properly help you.”

The girl’s gazed veered off to the left. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It's quite alright, my love,” he soothed, pulling her into him and petting her hair like a cat. “I know these frustrations all too well.”

It wasn’t just her powers though. If anything, it was what her issues with her powers alluded to. If only she could be certain that Vlad wouldn’t tire of her and her childish nature----her inability to understand her powers. If only she was more like her mother.

The young heroine shook her head, puzzling the older man. And she knew he was puzzled when she finally managed to meet his eyes. His features were adorned with confusion.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “Just trying to get rid of some bad thoughts.”

“Like what?” he asked, his words dripping with concern.

“Just doubts.”

“Doubts about what?”

“Whether or not I’m good enough.” She refused to go into specifics.

“Look at me,” he instructed taking her face into his hands, causing her eyes to trail back to his (as they had once again veered off). “I have seen you accomplish so much in the last few months. Since I began training you, you have exceeded my every expectation. You have bested some of the Ghost Zone’s greatest foes, and you have never asked for anything in return. Danielle, I know for a fact that you **can** do this; if there is **anyone **on God’s Earth that can, it is you.”

The young heroine hugged her mentor tightly, wanting nothing more and to feel him in her arms. Was he really there? Was he really wasting his time by her side?

Yes, yes he was.

And his love for her was as palpable as the ectoplasm in the Ghost Zone.

She just knew it was.

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

“Why are you sorry? There is nothing for you to be sorry for,” the older man eased, hugging her back just as snuggly.

_I’m sorry for being a pain. _

“I’m sorry for making you worry unnecessarily,” Dani stated as she pressed her cheek into his broad chest.

In response, the business tycoon gave a light chuckle. “We are an item, Danielle, it is only natural for me to be worried about you.”

“Vlad?”

“Hmm?”

“I…I love you…” Dani declared, her eyes pooling with troubled, but grateful tears.

“I love you as well, my darling.”

Both half ghosts looked into each other’s eyes, finding the other waiting for them. They kissed one another softly, feeling the other’s tender feelings without the use of words. A single tear rolled down Dani’s cheek, and the girl felt thankful that Vlad was unable to see it. He had told her never to lie to him, and she didn’t, but she didn’t want to divulge the entire truth of the matter. In point of fact, she was still worried about what his answer would be---if he still held certain affections for Maddie Fenton. The younger half ghost couldn’t ignore the incredibly obvious---if a bit overwhelming---love that her mentor felt for her. It was as strong as her love for him, and there was no way she could deny that.

When she felt his tongue enter her mouth, the ghost girl grunted in surprise.

Vlad did not cease, however.

He wanted to show her how much he believed in her. Even now, he could still sense the doubt in her. The pompous billionaire also knew that she wasn’t being entirely truthful.

There was more to her doubts.

Though he felt sad (if not a bit annoyed) that his little badger wasn’t telling him everything, even he could tell that she wasn’t willing to give up anything. She was still too insecure in whatever it was to talk about it. Regardless, he would find out what was ailing her, one way or another.

He would see to that.

His tongue ran over the roof of her mouth and danced with her own moist organ, all while his heart thumped. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to it, kissing her so intimately and passionately.

The older man’s heart began pounding once he felt his dear one’s hands grab at his cape. Oh, how his craving for her grew when she displayed such eagerness herself! While the ghost hunters were still in town, the tycoon had been entirely focused on protecting her, but his mind would occasionally wander to more, shall we say, private territory?

Although to say that this was only occasionally would be an outright lie.

Vlad desired her, this was no secret. He wanted her as badly as one may want water in a desert. Sinful thoughts would course through his mind and fuel his already powerful urges. Many a night, after he had been watching her all day, he had no choice but to relieve himself in other ways. He would collapse onto his bed, hot and heavy, and would think only of her as he stroked himself. And each and every time, his mind went blank as he climaxed.

He knew that the real thing would be all the more satisfying, but he **also **knew that his little badger was still miles behind him yet. She was still nowhere near ready yet, but if the locker room incident taught him anything, it was that she was on her way.

Now, of course, he was starting to feel aroused again. This would certainly not do, since they were deep in the Ghost Zone.

The tycoon pulled away then, only to come face to face with the pink cheeks and the expectant eyes of his dear one. For indeed, her face was certainly flush and her lips were parted just a fraction.

Those smooth, moist little lips.

It was then that he wondered what her other parts tasted like.

_No! That’s enough of that! If I can’t control myself here then we’re both doomed. _

Taking in a deep breath and then sighing through his nose, Vlad looked away from his pupil and into the dark green abyss ahead of them. This was indeed a part of the Ghost Zone that many didn’t dare approach. But he did. This place was no more frightening to him than Samuel’s empty threats. No, this place was of no concern to him.

However, the Region just due east of them was of great concern to him. He had to be careful not to wander into **that **particular place.

“Vlad?”

The older man looked back down at his protégé, smiling once he saw her look of confusion.

“What’s the matter? Expecting more?” he said playfully.

“N-not exactly,” she dodged, causing him to chuckle.

“We can’t get distracted, little badger. We have work to do, if you’ll recall.”

“And **you **said there wouldn’t be any distractions,” the ghost girl teased back, adopting a smirk on her still pink face.

“You started it,” the businessman stated with a grin.

“Yeah, well…”

He permitted himself to kiss her forehead before he responded. “Come, we have plenty to do yet.”

“Yeah yeah…”

The billionaire let go of his pupil and crossed his arms again, switching from boyfriend back into mentor mode.

“Alright, let’s try the exercise again.”

“O.K.”

For the next several hours, the younger half ghost practiced forming a rod out of her ecto-energy. After the first two hours, she finally got the hang of it, but then she just wanted to make sure. She molded the rod into a horseshoe, a ring, a U (which Vlad said was cheating since she merely turned it upside down), and a corkscrew. Once she was satisfied, the tycoon moved her on to a cube, a pyramid, and a cylinder. At first, Dani didn’t understand why he was only having her create geometric shapes, but Vlad then explained that everything in the world was made up of such shapes. The more complicated the item, like a sword or a fighter jet, the more shapes that made up that item. She had to master the creation of more “simple” objects before she could move on to the more elaborate ones.

And he mentally face-palmed at her mention of a fighter jet. Did she really intend on making her ecto-energy into such a thing?

She was definitely a teenager.

Finally, after 5 hours in the Ghost Zone, Vlad deemed it appropriate to call it a day. His wristwatch informed him that it was 9 o’clock at night, meaning that his little badger had to hurry on home.

“Race you to the ghost portal!” she shouted enthusiastically, zipping off into the gloom of the Ghost Zone.

“Oh, I do so love a challenge,” he said to himself, flying off after her before calling out to his dear little badger. “And I fully intend on enjoying my prize when I win!”

“What makes you think you’re going to win?” the girl called back.

“Because there is no one here who can best me, my dear, don’t you recall?”

“**_Now_ _if that isn’t the best line I’ve heard all week_**.”

Both the half ghosts stopped in their tracks. Dani’s ghost sense went off and Vlad’s face morphed into that of suspicion. Before either of them could respond, a swirling white mist manifested just a foot or two away from the billionaire, causing the younger half ghost to fly to his side. The mist started out small, but then it grew in size until it was about as large as a fully-grown person. Then, a humanoid form began to appear, one with very broad shoulders and thick upper arms. The figure, as it became corporeal, was wearing an all-white suit, with black boots, gloves, belt, and tie creating a stark contrast to his ivory apparel. His face was the same color, with a pair of all-green eyes adding to his otherworldly appearance. Upon his face, in addition, sat a cold and authoritative frown, one that gave Dani the chills.

Whoever this guy was, he meant business.

“Been a long time, hasn’t it Plasmius?” the ghost asked, focusing his gaze on the older man.

“Not long enough,” Vlad replied, now wearing a frown of his own.

“I warned you about setting foot in my territory. Are we going to have a problem?” His tone was enough to make the girl shudder. Everything about him just gave off a concerning vibe, one that just screamed: “don’t mess with me”.

“This isn’t your territory---this region is completely neutral.”

“Not anymore it isn’t,” the stranger decreed, putting his arms behind his back. “I claimed this region 6 months ago during a long-awaited expansion. No one has been foolish enough to challenge that claim, until now.”

“And just who are you, anyway?” Dani questioned, furrowing her brow. She didn’t like how he was talking to her mentor.

“I am Walker, Warden of the Ghost Zone Prison---and the judge and jury of those who disregard the laws of this world.”

“The Ghost Zone has a prison? There are laws here?”

“Indeed there are little miss, and you’ve just broken your first one; trespassing,” Walker proclaimed in a cold tone.

“Leave her out of this,” the older man said protectively as he thrust his arm in front of his protégé. “She is unaware of the rules here.”

“Ignorance of the law is not an adequate defense,” the ghostly warden rebuked. “And you should know that better than anyone, Plasmius.”

Dani looked at Vlad with puzzled eyes.

_What does he mean by that? _

“We’re done here,” the billionaire said with venom in his words as he turned around to the ghost girl.

“Hopefully you’re still aware of this, Plasmius---two strikes and you’re out.” The last part of his sentence sounded more like a threat than a warning, and Dani knew that she and her mentor had to get the heck out of there before something went down.

Plus, seeing the agitation on Vlad’s face gave her a bad feeling.

“You’ve used up your first strike. Hope you’re not so imprudent as to waste your last one on another pointless excursion.”

“Duly noted,” the billionaire replied curtly, quickly grabbing Dani by the arm and soaring in the direction of his ghost portal.

“What the hell was that all about?” the girl asked as they flew.

“It’s a long story,” the tycoon said abruptly, not caring to elaborate further.

“How did that guy know you?”

“I encountered him several years back, and I hoped I would never have to see him again.”

“Yeah but, why did it seem like he was gunning for you?”

“Again, it’s a long story.”

_One that you’re not willing to tell, by the sounds of it. _

“If he’s the warden of a prison, then does that mean you’re in trouble?” Dani asked, unable to comprehend the idea of Vlad being on the wrong side of the law. Sure, he was capable of some pretty scary things, but nothing that was criminal.

Right?

When he didn’t respond, worry echoed through her mind.

Had he committed a crime in the Ghost Zone? What was it? Was it just trespassing, or was it something worse? What other laws of the Ghost Zone were there?

It looked like she needed to catch up on these apparent “laws” if she was going to continue her training in the Ghost Zone.

Had she also trespassed when she was pulled into Sidney’s mirror a while ago?

_Sidney didn’t seem bothered by it---in fact, he was the one who brought me there in the first place. _

“We shall have to postpone your lessons in the Ghost Zone for a while,” the billionaire said, his tone serious.

“Wait, what? Come on, it's not like this Walker guy is gonna wait for you to show up again or something.”

When he didn’t respond again, Dani got even more concerned.

“He would?”

“Now that he knows that I’m still active here, he will stop at nothing to track me down again. He will attempt to corner me in his Region, which he will no doubt expand further now that he’s aware of my presence.”

“But why would he do that? If you really did break a law, then why not just arrest you?” the ghost girl asked, hating the fact that she had to ask this question at all.

“Because he can only apprehend offenders that are within his Region. Once they are beyond his parameters, they are free to go.”

“That doesn’t seem too efficient. All someone has to do is escape.”

“Not many are capable of doing so.”

“And he just let you go now, but…?”

“Walker adheres to a very strict protocol. Ghosts who have broken Ghost Zone Law are given two chances to avoid his Region entirely. One the second strike is broken, you are detained.”

“But why only two strikes? Isn’t it usually three?”

“Walker is not a generous ghost.”

Something told Dani that Walker would keep expanding his Region until it covered the entire Ghost Zone, and all in the name of whatever justice or peacekeeping he believed in. And if he was after Vlad, then it would stand to reason that he would expand his reach simply to nab him, as Vlad himself alluded to earlier. But why? What could he have done that was so bad that he earned Walker’s ire?

Dani didn’t want an answer to that question. She didn’t want to think of her mentor as a criminal. She didn’t want to think that he was actually capable of doing something worthy of a prison sentence, whether it be in the human world **or **the Ghost Zone.

She also didn’t want to think that Sam may have been right about him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“_Of course I was right about him_.”

She could just hear him say those words. Why wouldn’t he? He’d been gunning for the charming older man since the very first time they met. This was nothing new.

In fact, it was rather old news.

But she knew better. She knew him; she knew his kinder side, as well as everything else. She had only seen glimpses of his darker side in the past, but the evidence was there. The young heroine was no fool, nor was she ignorant---she knew he was capable of doing frightening things, perhaps even evil. But even if he was, he was working to better himself now. Above it all, she knew that just because he could, didn’t mean he would.

He wouldn’t dare.

Not presently.

Whatever he was capable of, none of it mattered, not now. She would stand by his side, regardless of what the goth, or anyone else thought of him. Even if the man himself came to despise his very existence, she had made a vow, and she didn’t want him to make a liar out of her.

No. None of it was important. All that was, to her, was their present bond, their current situation. It was a relationship she would do almost anything to protect, and if some ghostly prison warden, or anyone else threatened that, then they would deal with them together.

Now back the lab, Dani’s green eyes trailed over to her mentor, who was busying himself with sealing the ghost portal. She observed his unsure expression as he punched in the code---those red orbs of his consumed with doubt. His brow was furrowed and a frown tugged at his lips. It made her unhappy, seeing such a visage upon his handsome features. Troubled and uncertain, the ghost girl stepped over to him, watching him carefully. He didn’t turn to look at her, but she knew that he was aware of her.

“Vlad?”

He did not regard her, which only served to ignite great concern in her core. Instead, he simply stared at the control panel, but he made no move to press another button, and the portal had already closed.

What could it be? What could be burdening him so much? Had their encounter with Walker rattled him that much? The businessman wasn’t one for being rattled; only when faced with something dire would he come close to something of that nature.

And yet…

Was it truly something to be worried about, this last encounter? The heroine wasn’t sure---after all, Walker couldn’t detain the billionaire until he set foot in his Region again, but was the prospect of his Region expanding that much of a worry? It must have been, given how the older man mentioned something of the sort on their way out of the Ghost Zone.

Even now, he was tense. His shoulders were hunched, his brow maintained it’s furrow, and his free hand was clenched. When Dani focused on it, she found it to be shaking.

Was he afraid, perhaps? Did he really fear getting caught?

Was the Ghost Zone Prison that alarming, or was it something else? Could it have something to do with her? The younger half ghost never liked to think in such a conceited manner, but she couldn’t help but think that he was so worried about being captured because they wouldn’t be able to be together for a long time.

And frankly, this made her afraid too.

“Vlad?”

Again, no response.

Once again observing his fist, she saw it shaking like a leaf.

The girl took another step closer to him, slipping both her hands over his oh-so carefully. At her touch, the older man shut his eyes, clearly fighting something off. Was he holding back again?

The girl paid this no mind. Rather, she leaned into his side, her shoulder pressing against were his back met his ribcage. As her snow-white hair fell over her other shoulder, Dani pressed her head against his arm. She could tell that her closeness was instilling unrest in him, but she hoped that the message was coming across---she wasn’t going anywhere.

Nothing, nothing in the entire world, could tear her away from him.

In truth, he was terrified.

He knew what Walker’s presence meant. He knew that the ghostly warden was on the hunt now, and he wouldn’t give up until he’d clapped him in irons. This alone, however, was not what frightened him. No, it was the fact that once this occurred, there would be no going back. Vlad was well aware of his little badger’s image of him; the girl saw him as a kind and patient man, though not without his flaws. He also knew that she was under a certain impression---that she believed she’d seen the worse of him.

But this wasn’t so.

He was so much darker than she could imagine. She had only scratched the surface of his depravity---and his past deeds exemplified this fact.

Walker didn’t chase just anyone. He wouldn’t waste his personal time on mere trespassers (after all, that’s what guards were for). When he came after you, it was because you earned his ire.

And boy had he.

The eccentric tycoon had committed the worse act imaginable, one that was not without its repercussions. Even if he wasn’t completely aware of it back then, his decision would cost him dearly in the future.

And that future was now.

Shattering his dear one’s picture of him was enough to break his black heart. But if only that was worse of it; if he was caught and sent to the prison, he would unable to be with her. He could already feel the ache, the pain in his very soul at the prospect. His stomach twisted as his face adopted a distressed expression, with his eyes widening and flashing. Without her, what would be left of him? Without him, what would she do? What would she think? Whose arms would she run into?

No, he couldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t give anyone the chance. He couldn’t give the likes of **Samuel** a chance.

No one else would have her, no one else would take her.

They would be dead if they tried.

He clenched his fist harder, hearing the faint squeak of his glove’s fabric. It was then that he also felt Dani’s grip tighten. Now his eyes drifted to her, seeing her small, delicate form standing next to him, pressing up against his arm. Her own gaze was cast downwards, looking at said arm and his fist. She was worried, he could tell, about his condition. If only she could understand the depths of his despair, his madness. For yes, he was truly mad, and he knew it. His love had driven him so, for what else could explain his apprehension? He was mad for her, and he wanted her to be just as mad for him. Maybe then, **perhaps** then she would fully understand his heart, his desires. Then they could be mad together.

But did he really want that? Did he truly want to her to sacrifice everything else in her life just for him? He wanted Dani to make her own choices, her own decisions. He wanted her to have freedom and security, to never fear or despise him. If he locked her up, he knew she would.

But he felt he could no longer fight the growing yearning in that dark heart of his. He wanted her with him, now and forever. If Walker somehow separated them, he would destroy anyone and everyone in order to get back to her.

But wasn’t that the problem? Was it not a decision similar to that one that got him into this mess in the first place?

He bared his fangs as the frustration mounted. Common sense and primal thoughts battled for his mind, and he knew damn well what the consequences of losing were.

Was he a prisoner? Was the cage his common sense and the bars his self-control?

“Vlad?”

The billionaire looked down, meeting the neon green eyes of his darling pupil. He must’ve looked wretched, for her expression bore great concern. Her brow looked heavy with worry and her lips were parted ever so slightly, igniting powerful urges within the older man. Why was this so hard, he had to ask.

_No, I know the answer. It is because I am mad. _

Indeed, he was mad. This acceptance lifted some of the weight from his shoulders and he was able to relax them. He turned completely to her, watching as confusion adorned Dani’s face. Perhaps she could see the resolution in his face. Perhaps she could see the lack of struggle, now that he had finally accepted it all. From the moment he’d met her, he held himself back, he had been the perfect gentleman, albeit a playful one. Since the incident with Desiree, he had been battling his darker impulses, his sinful desires. Since they had become a couple, he had continued to do so, not wanting her to run away. He had fought against everything his love was turning him into, and only now did he understand the fruitlessness of this.

Yes, he was mad. Quite mad, in fact.

And now he finally had her.

“Vlad?” the young heroine asked again.

He pressed himself into her, making her flush with his strong body. His arm snaked up her side and his fingers drifted over her arm, not resting until they reached her shoulder. She was his, all his and no one else’s.

“V-vlad?”

His arm hugged her somehow closer to him, causing him to feel her breasts against his abdomen. The sensation must have embarrassed her, for now she was gaping at him with a red face.

But he had no intention of stopping.

His hand caressed her cheek, his palm feeling the heat from her warm flesh. His eyes bore into her, wordlessly conveying his thoughts. Though he was gifted with such an ability, he knew very well that this alone would not do his desires justice. He knew that he would be unable to properly communicate everything with just his eyes, but no words came to his lips---he was beyond them now.

Vlad leaned down a fraction, sniffing her hair as it tickled his upper lip. Even in ghost form, it still smelled of strawberries.

She had stiffened at this ministration, but she needn’t fret---it was only him.

Him and his madness.

“W-what is it---?”

He pulled her arm up, holding it out gently, gazing at it with soft but hooded eyes. Then he brought it to his lips, delicately kissing the back of her hand as he closed his eyes. The heroine’s own eyes widened in surprise. Her heart rate quickened, and her stomach was invaded by butterflies.

The older man’s hand methodically ran over her arm as he continued with this new ministration. Then he caught a piece of her glove’s fabric in his teeth and his eyes opened to stare back at his greatly stimulated pupil. She gasped the very moment their gazes met, seeing the older man’s sharp fangs and his deep bedroom eyes. Her heart was now pounding and her knees felt weak.

Right then, white rings appeared at her midsection, unwillingly changing her back into Dani Fenton. Surprise adorned the tycoon’s features and he let his grip over her arm slip just a fraction. For a moment, just a moment, it appeared as if he was back to normal---the lustful look in his eyes wavered and something akin to control seemed to be reasserting itself.

“Ah….” Was all the girl could utter.

She looked down her arm at her mentor, observing this change. Was he alright now? Was he going to continue? Did she want him to?

Would it be bad if she said yes?

But just as quickly as it disappeared, that licentious look returned to his face. When black rings appeared, it startled her, causing her to jolt. One ring traveled up and the other down, turning her mentor back into Vlad Masters. His grip on her arm tightened once more, and he started kissing her hand again, only this time he kissed up her arm. Arousal ignited in the young girl, but it was accompanied by trepidation. What, exactly, was happening? Where would this lead? Did Vlad still intend to hold back? Had he given up?

Should she be concerned about her own thoughts?

His eyes remained open, once again staring back at his dear little badger, his sweet little love. His lips traced up her arm slowly, stopping only to lick certain spots on her heated skin. For the first time in a long while, he felt completely in control. Perhaps he was nothing but a slave to his primal longing, but he felt dominate in this chaos.

The billionaire’s fingers brushed her hip, making circles against the denim of her jeans. Then this hand slid under her shirt, faintly touching her stomach and making her jump again. That hand moved up as his lips reached her neck. He nibbled at the flesh there, bringing out a tiny yelp from Dani’s throat. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her mind was racing, and her body was aching for something ancient and carnal. She shut her eyes, feeling overwhelmed and embarrassed tears coming to meet her lashes.

Once his roaming hand reached her breast, she almost squeaked. He massaged it with care, neither being too gentle or too rough. His other arm had snaked around her back and now pulled her close again. With Vlad’s lips at her neck and his hands upon her body, the young heroine didn’t know if she would be able to last.

Should she give up too?

Vlad pulled away just enough to look her in the eye. Opening them, the girl got a good look at him. His expression was filled with lust, as evident by his once again hooded eyes and his parted lips. His cheeks also bore a faint blush---a decoration that Dani had never seen on him before. It was only further proof of his desire for her, his longing, his yearning, his **ache**.

Nothing could stop the tears now, which were fixed with numerous emotions. The older man blinked before moving his face closer to hers. He licked up her cheek, tasting a tear with his sinful tongue. The tycoon took in a deep breath, and when he released it as a low groan his eyes flashed red. The younger half ghost was in complete awe of him, her mind confused about what to feel. She hadn’t the faintest idea what to do or what she wanted, and it seemed he was taking full advantage of this---he was making a decision and watching her for a response. Would she reciprocate? Would she try to stop him? Would she run away or risk it and stay?

Even she didn’t know.

But she knew one thing----she wasn’t scared of him. If she was scared of anything, it was what she was feeling, if it could get anymore out of control.

It was overwhelming, overbearing, and it was powerful. She had felt something similar in the girl’s locker room several days ago, but what she felt now was significantly stronger.

It threatened to consume her whole.

Then Vlad’s other hand moved down and caress her thigh. She stiffened at the contact, suddenly bombarded with thoughts and images of what could come next. She whimpered and grabbed fistfuls of the billionaire’s blazer. Her baby blues shot down to their shoes, not sure of where else to look. Fortunately or unfortunately, she caught her mentor’s hand in her gaze. This caused her face to heat up even more and she gasped again. What was going to follow?

Although, even she had to admit that she knew what was coming.

But was she prepared for it?

“V-vlad?” she asked, still not looking him in the eye.

He merely hummed in response, but it was not a hum with an inflection. It was low, emanating from the back of his throat.

“S-so, what are you---w-what I mean is---”

She was interrupted by that roaming hand of his; it inched further into her crotch, gently stroking the thinner denim there. Dani could almost feel his bare hand on her skin, which made her all the more embarrassed.

And aroused.

“S-shouldn’t we g-get back t-to training…?” she inquired timidly, grabbing the man’s broad shoulders with trembling hands.

The billionaire’s lips were at her neck, tenderly nibbling at her flesh before he left dainty kisses on her creamy skin. The younger half ghost unwillingly moaned, feeling a flood of discomfiture course through her but moments after. Apparently, the tycoon like that, because he planted a rather large, wet kiss at the base of her jaw. Dani whimpered again, this time a little louder. Vlad then kissed her cheek, letting his eyes linger on hers again. He was so close now, closer than he had ever been before (minus the times he had kissed her on the lips). The heroine couldn’t see past his face, that beautiful and entrancing face of his that delighted her so. It was clear to her now that he was her whole world. Vlad Masters was the only one that made her whole, the only one who she wanted to devote every waking hour to. The older man was the only person on the entire planet who deserved her undivided attention.

Steeling herself, Dani pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes and trying not to retreat into his chest. Her ministration was reciprocated---very strongly, in fact---when Vlad shoved her against the wall and drove his tongue into her mouth.

At this, the girl yelped, but it was muffled by the kiss. The business mogul’s moist organ ran over the roof of her mouth and traversed every inch it reasonably could. Dani’s own tongue, meanwhile, was doing all it could just to keep up. Vlad’s tongue was dominating her mouth, overwhelming her senses and zapping the strength from her body.

Thank goodness for the wall.

He growled, inciting another wave of arousal through the heroine. Then, his hand latched onto the zipper of her jeans and before she had time to blink it was coming down.

“V-vlad---”

Without a second to waste, the billionaire slid that roaming hand into her pants, his fingers caressing her entrance over her black panties.

Her whole body jolted as if a bolt of electricity had coursed through her. The girl’s eyes were as wide as saucers and the gasped she emitted might have given any other man pause.

But not Vlad.

He continued to fondle her breast, kneading it just enough to be considered rough but not too rough. The man could feel his little badger quivering before him, much like a cornered rodent or a frightened child.

Or a sexually aroused soulmate.

He wanted to make her tremble more. He wanted to see her shivering in desire, in desperation. He wanted her to give in to him entirely as he was now with her.

Just then, he phased off her bra. Dani had no idea he had done so until she saw her black undergarment on the floor.

“V-Vlad!” she beseeched, but it fell on deaf ears.

His digits grasped her nipple, which was hard and warm. He twisted it slightly, making the younger half ghost moan. As he played with the sensitive bud, his other hand continued to stroke her privates. Something in Dani’s mind was screaming, demanding more. She wanted more, but this desire was too much to handle. Her mind raced, even with a lack of clarity. She shut her eyes as more emotional tears emerged.

“Is it too much, little badger?” the billionaire teased, finally breaking his silence.

The girl couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes, but she did give a reply: “I-I-I don’t kn-know…”

“But I think you do,” he whispered, his navy orbs trailing up to meet her closed ones. “I think you know all too well.”

“I-I don’t---”

“Tell me that it’s too much,” he instructed, a smirk playing at his lips.

“I-I---”

“Tell me that you can’t take it anymore. Tell me that you can’t stand this teasing any longer.”

She really couldn’t. She wanted so much more.

But was now the proper time?

“V-vlad?” she asked, her voice dainty and quiet.

“Yes?” he purred expectantly.

“I-I thought you w-were holding back?”

When she didn’t hear him respond, she opened her eyes. His own were once again bearing into hers, having adopted a look of longing. Now she could see his smirk, and it was quite comforting to see. Everything that was happening had been so unfamiliar, but seeing that recognizable smirk brought ease to her mind.

“Do you want me to hold back?”

The question was not asked in a playful way, but was in earnest. It seemed that he made up his mind already, but now he wanted to know if it was safe to proceed. Had he truly given in after all?

“I-I want to know if its O.K….”

“It is,” he said, using one finger to trace up her entrance. “I tell you that it is.”

Her spine tingled, causing her body to shudder.

“A-are you s-sure?”

The older man’s smirk faded as an expression of yearning took hold. With that powerful gaze of his, he nearly rendered her speechless.

“Yes,” he affirmed.

“S-so then---”

“Danielle…” he murmured, dipping back down to her neck. He started planting kisses again as he continued playing with her hard nipple.

“V-vlad…” she whimpered. Was it really O.K.?

“I can no longer restrain myself,” he whispered. “I will not waste another moment.”

Was he that concerned about Walker catching him? Had her previous conjecture been accurate?

“I-is it too much?” Seconds after asking this, Dani watched Vlad’s expression mirror that of a puzzled child. But when realization flashed in his eyes, she knew he understood.

“Yes,” he answered, his smirk returning in response to her attempt at cheekiness. “It’s far too much.”

“D-does it hurt?” the girl inquired sincerely.

“Oh so much, little badger,” the older man said in a low tone. “It’s so painful I can hardly think.”

“I-is that right?” Her eyes darted away as she asked this question, not expecting a response.

“Yes. I ache for you, Danielle, I thought I told you that once.”

“Y-you did…”

“My body craves you, my love,” he confessed. “Every fiber of my being desires you.”

She knew this, but hearing it made it all the more real.

“I told you…I **want **you, Danielle. I **need **you.”

With emotions, thoughts, and longings boiling over, more tears ran down her heated cheeks.

“I-I want you too---I need you too!” she cried, grabbing more fistfuls of the back of his blazer.

“How much?”

“So much…so much that…”

“It hurts.”

Dani looked her mentor in the eye. “Yes.”

His lips crashed against hers, not waiting a moment more. He was true to his word, if the young heroine was any judge. Vlad madly groped her breast, interluding with occasional rubbing of her hard bud. His other fingers, meanwhile, still teased her lower region, only now it was more feverish. The younger half ghost heroine moaned into her mentor’s mouth, causing him to hum in response. All the sounds he made would always ignite her deepest instincts and now was no different.

And it seemed that he was the same way.

Suddenly, Vlad’s hand slid into her underwear. Dani gasped, but this didn’t stop him. Rather, it egged him on; he felt emboldened by her surprise, and he wasn’t going to let her down. He intended to leave his mark, to give her an experience she would never forget.

_Only me, little badger, only me. I am the only man you will allow to touch you. You belong to **me**\---me and me **alone**. _

“You’re **mine**,” he decreed as he pulled away, his voice guttural and low.

“V-vlad?”

“You are mine, Danielle. You are mine, and no one can take you away from me.”

The girl leaned into him, pressing her head against his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Every part of you is mine,” he declared, his navy orbs drifting to her chest. “This is mine.”

He grasped her breast hard, making the girl whimper again.

“This is mine,” he repeated, this time running his hand down her stomach and sliding it over her side and to her back.

It felt nice to be caressed in such a way, so Dani hummed.

“This is mine,” he repeated again as he took his hand from inside her shirt and ran it over her raven tresses. It was still as silky smooth as he remembered from the day they met.

The heroine couldn’t help but ease into the touch, smiling tenderly as Vlad’s delicate hand pet her like a cat.

“And **this** is mine,” he said, softly brushing Dani’s entrance with his middle finger.

She gasped yet again.

“It was inevitable, my dear,” the billionaire said, his features now accommodating a predatory grin. “Neither one of us can escape.”

“N-neither one of us…?”

“You tantalize me,” he admitted, slowly stroking her. “You captivate and entrance me.”

“B-but I---”

“You tempt me, and I excite you. I stir and arouse you. I lure you into my grasp and you don’t try to run. You have had every opportunity to run from me but you never have. It is partly because you choose it, but you only choose it because you can’t control how much you **want **it…want **me**.”

Why did she have a feeling that she would never hear the end of that?

“So let us fall into desire together, my sweet,” he said tenderly, just before slipping his finger inside her. “Fall with me.”

She cried out. It was a strange, somewhat “full” feeling. The ghost girl could not explain it, of course, having never experienced something like this. It was then that a funny thought hit her: had she been masturbating wrong this whole time?

“Shhh,” he cooed, petting her hair reassuringly. “Just relax.”

She felt her nipples harden even more, and she knew they were poking through her shirt. It was reminiscent of the body’s reaction to colder temperatures. In point of fact, Dani had always been self-conscious about this, so she did everything she could to hide them when they hardened from a cold breeze or an air-conditioned room. Even at home, she didn’t like her nipples exposing themselves without warning.

Even here, she felt that initial wave of mortification. Although this time, she knew that their erect nature pleased her mentor to no end---it was a sign that he was doing something right. He was getting the response he was hoping for.

And with her body quivering the way it was, his grin came as no surprise to her.

“Is it strange?” he asked.

“A l-little,” she confessed, feeling her face heat up even more. By now, her face was as red as a tomato.

“You’ll get used to it, little badger,” he soothed. “I’ll get you accustomed to it.”

As he said that, he moved his finger deeper inside, causing Dani to jolt. It wasn’t painful, but it was uncomfortable. It reminded her of the first time she used a tampon.

It didn’t go well.

But even though it wasn’t comfortable, there was a tiny portion of pleasure mixed in there. It drove her mad, suddenly being overcome with the desire to have him move faster. She also wanted him to stimulate her clitoris, which was something she had always done to herself when the need arose.

Not once had she penetrated herself, not with fingers or anything else. She never thought about it.

And his ministration served only to amplify her need for stimulus all the more.

Would he be assumed by all of this?

“You’re so warm, Danielle,” Vlad whispered into her ear. “Oh…so warm and tight.”

“D-don’t say that!” the heroine said in embarrassment.

“I can feel you pulling me in,” he informed, offering a dark chuckle as he pulled his finger almost all the way out only to plunge it back in again.

“V-vlad…” the ghost girl moaned, wanting him to touch her clit so badly.

Not that she would…or **could** ever tell him. No way in hell.

“Your body’s reacting nicely to me,” he noted, cocking his head to the side as his gaze trailed down to her crotch. “It’s as if it knows who it belongs to.”

The billionaire began pulling and plunging, slow and steady. The friction deep inside caused moans to fall from Dani’s mouth without her permission. In essence, her control over her audibility was now entirely absent.

“That’s it…moan for me.”

Dani leaned her forehead against his shoulder and shut her eyes. His body was as sturdy as the wall at her back, holding her firmly just off the ground.

The tycoon started to move faster, dooming the poor girl. She moaned louder, despite her best efforts to levee her volume.

“Yes, that’s it my love,” the business mogul praised in a quiet tone. “You’re doing so well.”

“I-it’s too much…”

“I know, I know,” he said as his other hand trailed down her back. “Just moan for me, darling.”

“I-it’s so embarrassing…”

“It’s only me, little badger.”

“It’s b-because it’s you…”

He chuckled. “I’m much obliged.”

Then he moved even faster. Now, his finger was going in and out in time with the girl’s thundering heart. Dani’s cries were akin to wails, which made Vlad smile from ear to ear.

He was the one giving her this pleasure, **he** was the one making her moan so. His own heart pounded in elation and he felt his erection grow stiffer. The businessman had become hard some time ago, but now it was as if it was going to burst from his trousers. The cotton fabric was constricting him in an almost painful way as it denied him access, and as he continued to thrust his digit in and out of his dear girl the thought of more drove him further into madness.

He believed he was already there, but apparently, he hadn’t even been close. How could he have known that he could get any madder than he already was?

“V-vlad?”

His wild eyes found his protégé’s, which were hooded and unfocused.

“I-I-I can’t…o-oh god…”

“Does it feel good, Danielle?” he asked, his voice husky.

“I-I-I don’t know…”

“Oh come now, don’t evade me again. You know how it feels, my sweet, you just won’t admit it. Is it too embarrassing?”

“Y-you know d-damn well that it is…” she said defensively, furrowing her brow and attempting to meet his gaze.

She couldn’t.

“But it’s only embarrassing because it feels good, correct?”

Nothing could get past him.

“I-it feels good…” she whispered, barely loud enough to even hear it herself.

“What’s that?”

“I-it feels **good**,” the ghost girl proclaimed, this time a little louder than she intended; it was almost a shout.

“Oh,” he sighed, closing his eyes only to open them again as he continued: “Heaven to my ears.”

He throbbed, causing him to groan. Dani saw this and adopted a puzzled visage.

“W-what is it?”

“Danielle…” He trailed off, which served to confuse her all the more. He looked to be in discomfort, but his eyes also bore confliction. What was going on?

“V-vlad?”

The older man shook his head. “It is nothing.”

“But…”

“I said it is nothing, my love,” he said in a strained voice, his face looking quite flushed and a forced smile upon his lips.

_Yeah right. _

“A-are you O.K.----oh god…” the girl said as her mentor plunged another finger inside of her. Once again, discomfort and pleasure mixed together in an overwhelming sea of sensations.

“Don’t concern yourself,” the billionaire stated in a calm tone, though he was breathing heavily.

He must have been aroused too. He was probably in the same way as he was back in the girl’s locker room. Dani recalled seeing his erection through his ghost form’s attire. Even then, it seemed large.

She chanced a glance, and below her was the same sight. This time, however, it appeared to be bigger somehow.

Was it actually painful? He had alluded to something of the sort earlier, but she was under the assumption that he was being metaphorical or was simply referring to his emotional longing.

This, however, looked agonizing.

“Th-that looks…” she began, without knowing what else to say.

“Please, just ignore that,” the older man insisted.

“H-how can I? Th-that really looks p-painful,” Dani said in rebuttable before letting out another uncontrollable moan.

“I have no desire to see to it,” the tycoon plainly. “I only wish to satisfy **you**.”

“O-only because you couldn’t k-keep your hands off me,” the younger half ghost pointed out with a smirk.

He chuckled. “Fair.”

“And b-besides…I-I don’t w-want to be the only one who f-feels good…” she admitted shyly, only to suddenly feel Vlad’s fingers stop. She looked up at him, coming face to face with his stunned expression.

“Danielle…”

No longer feeling him moving inside her, want and longing and desire crashed into Dani’s mind with unforgiving force. Without meaning to, she whined and bucked her hips into his hand, trying to recreate that amazing friction.

This, evidently, made him even more stunned. His eyebrows rose and his lips parted.

He always said she was too much.

“Danielle…you can’t keep doing this to me,” he teased, that stunned expression giving way to a dark, predatory one---his navy eyes even flashed red!

“D-d-doing what?”

“Unknowingly seducing me.”

He rammed a third finger inside her and thrust them in and out at such speed the young heroine thought she was going to scream.

In fact, she did.

It hurt, but it also felt so good. Dani howled at the top of her lungs, encouraging her lustful mentor to keep at it. The friction of his digits, coupled with the powerful desire for her clit to be touched besieged her senses until there was no more room for clear thought.

“Oh god!”

“Yes, that’s it, that’s it. Moan more, scream more. Scream for me, Danielle, scream my name.”

“V-vlad!”

“Scream my name, little badger, remind me of who you belong to.”

“Vlad!”

“Who do you belong to?”

“You! I belong to you!”

“Who do you belong to, Danielle?” he repeated, his voice desperate and his face as red as her own.

“You!” the young girl cried, tears of pleasure flowing from her delicate pools of blue.

“I am yours as well, my darling. Oh, my dear little one,” he stated, instinctually rubbing his erection through his trousers.

“V-vlad…” the ghost girl muttered in between gasps.

“I am yours, I am at your mercy,” he proclaimed in a strained voice, rubbing himself harder and harder by the second. “Don’t you see what you do to me?”

Seeing him lose himself added to her extreme arousal. He was the very definition of frantic.

“I am out of my mind,” the business mogul declared. “I am out of control, and I don’t want to stop.”

“V-vlad…”

“I am all yours, Danielle, both my body and my heart. Everything that I am is yours.”

“V-vlad!”

“Please,” he implored, looking straight into her eyes. “Be mine.”

Dani felt something warm pool in her stomach, heating her already hot and stimulated body. It built fast, mounting and mounting until she felt what can only be described as a blooming ecstasy. She screamed louder than before, shutting her eyes tight and hugging Vlad so close to her that she felt his member against her belly. Her fists held his blazer to strictly that it was in danger of tearing.

As the wave of bliss washed over her, her body slowly became limp and rested entirely against her mentor. Clear thought was still impossible, as evident by her tired, almost lost visage. Everything felt heavy, but it was a nice kind of heavy---the sort of heavy one feels after a good workout.

Panting, Dani attempting to stand up straight, but her knees hadn’t received the memo and failed to hold her up right. Slumping back against the older man, the younger half ghost let out a sigh.

“Are you well, Danielle?”

The girl looked up at the flushed face of her mentor. His navy eyes still burned with lust, but his expression was soft.

“Yeah…yeah, I think so…” she replied, still a bit out of breath.

“You are not in pain?”

“No…no, why would I be?” she inquired genuinely.

“Oh…good…good, I’m glad,” Vlad responded, averting his gaze.

“Is…is everything alright?” the heroine asked, pulling herself up as much as she was able.

“In point of fact, no,” he said, turning back to her. “Only now it is hitting me…what I’ve just done…”

“But don’t worry about it!” Dani entreated. “I’m O.K., see?”

She attempted to stand again, only to feel his fingers still inside her. The over-stimulus made her cry out, causing a panicked expression to take hold of Vlad’s features.

He didn’t dare move a muscle.

“No no, I’m fine, really!” the ghost girl reassured, gathering herself despite a sudden resurgence of desire. She could still feel him there, deep within her warm and wet recesses. She wanted him to pleasure her again, but she shoved this want to the back of her mind.

“I gave in, Danielle, I gave in to my desires,” he said in a melancholic tone.

“Sure, but it's not like the feeling wasn’t mutual,” she explained with a blush. “I meant everything that I said.”

“I know,” Vlad replied, watching her carefully. “And that’s what worries me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Now that I know you want me, I don’t think I can ever hold back again.”

_Was that really stopping him before? I thought he knew that… _

Did he truly not know that she wanted him as much as he wanted her? Had she never expressed this before?

Then again, the young girl had to remind herself that such a thing was pretty embarrassing to admit and therefore wasn’t something she’d confess of her own accord.

_So I guess he really **didn’t **know. _

“The last thing I want is to hurt you, which is entirely possible if---”

“But don’t they say it hurts for women during there first time anyway?” Dani blurted, not wanting him to feel anymore anguish unnecessarily.

“If only that were the extent of it,” the older man said with a frown. “Danielle, I don’t just mean that I don’t want to hurt you in the physical sense; I also mean that I don’t want to hurt you emotionally. Intercourse can be a powerful feeling, but it can also be frightening.”

“But it’s not like you’re a stranger, or that you’re intentionally trying to hurt me,” the younger half ghost heroine stated. “Besides, I’m not scared now.”

“You were earlier.”

_How did he know that?_

“But it wasn’t because of **you**, Vlad! It was because this was new to me, but after a little bit I wasn’t scared anymore.”

He didn’t respond, but his eyes were still on her.

“There was nothing that I was afraid of in the end. It was…overwhelming at first,” she said shyly.

“Even so---”

“But that didn’t change anything, **hasn’t **changed anything. I still want to be with you, I still want to be by your side.”

“Danielle…”

“And I still want to do all those things…I still want to go further…” the girl professed, giving it her all to maintain eye contact. She didn’t want to give him any reason to think her resolve was weak; even if it was incredibly awkward for her, she would stand her ground. “I still want you.”

Vlad’s eyes flashed red and she shoved her against the wall again. He breathed into her ear, stirring that rejuvenated desire within the young girl.

“You can’t say that to me…not right now…” he murmured as he pressed himself against her until he was flush with her small form. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the cool steel of the wall, just inches above his little badger.

“Is…is there something I can do?” she asked, not sure if it was a safe question of pose.

“No…no no, don’t worry yourself,” he panted. “I just need to collect myself. Won’t be but a minute.”

Even with that, Dani felt Vlad’s member twitch against her abdomen. Chancing another glance, she noted just how taught the crotch of his pants were. Indeed, it looked quite uncomfortable. She imagined that it must have looked red and angry, given how strained her mentor’s features were.

Perhaps he couldn’t pull himself away? Maybe he was battling with his desires and common sense.

But if there was one thing Dani knew about sexual intimacy, it was that it was rude to leave the other person hanging. For some, mostly for men, being teased and left out to dry could be downright excruciating. And if she was the one who got him into such a state, and didn’t that mean she had to take responsibility?

If nothing else, wasn’t she at least obligated to return the favor?

The thought of it made her heart thump. She wasn’t even sure she could do it right.

After all, she had only ever heard about it. Tucker told her once that guys were simple, just stroking them off was enough, but how would she know? The geek was just as inexperienced as she was!

Although, she knew a **little **bit more now.

With a meek hand, Dani reached down and touched her mentor’s erection. He jolted at her touch, and she was shocked by how warm it was. Even through his trousers, the heat radiating off of it was palpable!

“Danielle, **don’t**,” he ordered with a shaking voice.

Furrowing her brow in resolve, the ghost girl rubbed it with her palm, letting her fingers linger at what she assumed was the tip. Her mentor moaned above her, which urged her to carry on. She let her hand glide over and under his hard member as her heart thundered in her chest again.

“Danielle, you don’t have to do that,” the older man mumbled in between gasps, trying desperately to maintain control. He hadn’t had much of it, but he was determined to hang on to what little he had regained in the last minute or so.

The blue-eyed teen’s rubbing became more aggressive, practically stroking his entire length (if it wasn’t for his pants being in the way, she would’ve been).

“My dear, please, you don’t want to do that,” Vlad beseeched, almost in a pleading tone of voice.

Taking a leap of faith, or perhaps going against her better judgment, Dani unzipped Vlad’s trousers and yanked them down his hips. When she moved, she felt his fingers, as they were still inside her. Before her trembling eyes, the man’s member jetted out a bit further, blocked only by his black boxers.

They were Calvin Klein. Of course they were.

“That’s enough,” he commanded in a hoarse voice as he stepped away, pulling his digits out of her as he went. He backed away until they were separated by almost a foot.

Dani felt a notable absence within her heat that made her want to whine, but she immediately felt ashamed when she saw the look on his face. He was clearly troubled, perhaps even tortured. He was a man caught between his longing and self-control, with his ability to reason finally returning. It was evident that he still felt guilty for touching her, despite her efforts to convince him that everything was fine on her end.

What could she do to quell his anxious mind?

The older man gazed at his fingers, seeing his little badger’s liquid innocence coating them. It had been so warm inside her, so inviting. He couldn’t wait to really be inside her, however, to become complete and to reach the ultimate pleasure with her.

But something was calling him back to reality, something deep within his brain. The young heroine claimed that she was alright, and maybe she was, but she didn’t understand the full magnitude of intercourse. It was something that couldn’t be taken back, nor could it be forgotten.

And he would know.

“Vlad?”

His orbs trailed to his little badger, vision blurred with lust.

“I’m sorry, I was just trying to help…I just wanted…”

Guilt coursed through his veins. Now his dear one was troubled. From her perspective, she hadn’t done anything wrong, and in reality, she really didn’t. In fact, it was good.

It felt so good.

“Danielle,” he murmured, stepping back over to her. “I know you were only trying to be considerate, but I assure you that it is not necessary.”

“But---”

“I can handle this issue on my own.”

“But I don’t want you to!” she protested.

“Look, Danielle---”

“I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn! I told you that I’m O.K., that I’m not hurt and I’m not afraid! I **will** be hurt if you keep taking care of yourself on your own!”

“Listen---”

“I don’t want to be the only one that’s spoiled, pampered, or made to feel good! I want to be your equal Vlad, and I can’t do that if you won’t give me a chance!”

The billionaire blinked in rapid succession. “Do you really want to do this for me?”

“Yes!”

“Do you really want to relieve me?”

“Yes!” the girl insisted, her face adorned with determination and frustration.

“Do you…” he paused, taking a quick look at his wet fingers before looking back at his pupil, a dark smirk emerging on his face. “Do you really want to pleasure me?”

“I-I do,” the girl declared, suddenly having a funny feeling. She knew where this was going, and she wasn’t sure she was prepared for his words.

“Do you want to stroke me off?” he asked, taking a step closer.

“Y-yes…”

“Do you want to want to feel me writhe above you?”

_Oh lord, I was not prepared for this after all. _

_No! I’m not going to look away! I’m not going to show weakness! _

_I’m going to stand my ground, lay it into him, show him what I got! _

“Y-yes.”

She inwardly cringed at how mouse-like her tone sounded.

“Do you want to make me cum?”

Her face went pure red as a shiver went down her spine.

_Abort! Abort! _

_No! No aborting! No running away! We’re seeing this through, dammit! _

She gulped. “Yes.”

The older man held his head up high, almost in a mocking manner.

“My my, look how grown up she’s gotten.”

“I’ll show you grown up,” Dani muttered as she closed the already small distance between them and grabbed hold of his member again. This time, no trousers blocked her away, and even through the fabric of his boxers she could feel the shape of him.

She could also feel how hard he was. Dani had always assumed “hard as a rock” was just an expression.

Not anymore.

As her heart slammed against her ribcage, the ghost girl started stroking him again. Almost immediately, the older man began moaning and panting. He took hold of her shoulders to keep himself up and he never removed his gaze from her hand.

Never in his wildest dreams did he think she would touch him. He knew that one day he would have her, that was inevitable, but he had never believed that **she **would be the one to fondle **him**.

_My God, Danielle is truly something. It is clear that I underestimated her again. When she puts her mind to it, my little badger lets nothing get in her way. _

_I only want to ravish her all the more now. _

The heroine ran her thumb over his tip, causing Vlad’s body to jerk into her touch.

“Oh…Danielle…” he groaned, undeterred by shyness or embarrassment. He didn’t feel such things.

Hearing him moan so wantonly aroused the young girl, reigniting the desire to have his fingers inside her again.

But this was about him, her turn was over.

“You’re doing good, making me feel so good,” he said, his tone dripping with lust.

“G-glad to be of service,” Dani replied without looking at his face. She knew that if they made eye contact, she was done for.

“You could be better, but…” he began, lulling his head to one side as he stared at the hand upon his length. “This is…**delightful**, my love.”

She would let that little comment about her performance slide.

“Harder,” he instructed, his voice suddenly taking on another tone; it was low and almost authoritative.

She gulped again but did as she was told. Her hand moved faster, almost mimicking the speed Vlad displayed earlier.

“Harder.”

She went faster.

“Harder!”

She did so, but it was awkward with his trousers in the way. They still hung at his hips, so Dani took the initiative and pulled them down to the floor. By now the young girl’s heart felt like it was about to explode, but she kept on anyway. She ran her hand up his stomach, thus pushing up his white silk shirt. Her fingers were warm, and he sighed in content at the contact.

“You’re firm,” Dani marveled, looking at his toned abdomen and feeling its firmness. She had only seen his abs once before, so it was back then that she had become acquainted with the sturdiness of his body.

But it was still awe-inspiring to see.

“A good diet and exercise routine do wonders,” he joked, offering a chuckle before moaning again.

“Ain’t that the truth,” the teenager commented in a timid tone. She continued to rub his length as she let her other hand glide over his abs.

When she saw Vlad raise his arm, it caught her attention. She followed it until it led her to his face, which was displayed great pleasure. He brought his fingers to his lips and, looking her **right in the eye**, licked her liquid innocence from them.

_Oh god…! _

It was by far the **hottest **thing she had ever seen.

He was so enticing, so sexy, to irresistible. He was so much more than she could handle, and this fact was proven when she stopped pleasuring him.

The ghost girl’s face oozed with awe and lust, as evident by the deepening blush on her face.

“Give up?” Vlad said, lapping his middle finger and letting his tongue slide all over it.

“I-I---”

He chuckled darkly. “You’ll have to forgive me, I simply wished to see what you taste like. Can’t be wasteful.”

_Oh god…_

“Would you like to know?” he asked, peering down at her so seductively.

“I-I-I---”

“Or perhaps you want to move on?” the billionaire led as he leaned down to her eye level.

“W-what do you---”

The older man pushed Dani to the floor, quickly mounting her. The girl’s blue eyes stared in surprise as Vlad pulled her jeans down to her ankles and began grinding himself against her.

“W-w-wait, I was supposed to be making you feel good!”

“Yes, but I thought of something much better,” he stated as he panted. “This way, we will both feel pleasure.”

Not but a moment after he said this did his enlarged organ caress her clit, finally giving it the attention it had longed for.

“O-oh God…” Dani moaned, practically slamming her hands on Vlad’s shoulders.

“Ah, what’s this? My little badger is already quivering,” the tycoon observed aloud. “Could it be that she enjoys having her clit touched?

“Mm hmm,” she vocalized, suddenly desperate with yearning.

“What’s that? I didn’t quite hear you,” the billionaire teased as he pulled himself up, supporting himself on his palms and knees (which were on either side of Dani).

The girl whimpered.

“I don’t know what pleases you unless you say it,” he attested, a coy smirk upon his handsome face.

“D-don’t make me say it…”

“Come now, where did all that moxy go? If you can stroke my cock, then surely you can tell me how to make you cum.”

At his language, Dani whined; hearing him say such words was both shocking and stimulating.

“I-I like it when you touch me there…”

“Where?”

“My c-clit…”

Without missing a beat, Vlad was back on her, the tip of his length rubbing against her most sensitive bud. After a few seconds of this, his entire member was stroking her, causing her to moan rather loudly.

“Shame is a luxury for the uninitiated, wouldn’t you agree, Danielle?” he asked teasingly, his coy smirk seemingly more so than before.

“Y-you were born w-without shame…” Dani joshed, attempting to smirk back but all she managed to do was grin for two seconds before moaning yet again.

“Indeed, little badger, which means there is nothing stopping me from dry-humping you on the floor of my own lab,” he stated. “Especially if it gives you pleasure.”

“B-but I thought you…”

“At this moment, my dear, I exist only to give you pleasure.”

“B-but you’re getting pleasure t-to, right?”

“Yes, yes I am,” he growled, his eyes flashing red again. “My pleasure is derived from this, as well as knowing that I am getting you close.”

And boy was she.

“B-but is it r-really fair for me t-to…do that twice?”

“It doesn’t matter, Danielle, just as long as you feel good,” he said in a rushed tone of voice. Was he close too?

Maybe she could help him in a new way.

“It feels so good,” she whined, letting herself slip into her lustfulness once more.

“How good, little badger?”

“So good!”

Vlad’s passion amplified, exemplified by his almost inhuman speed. His swollen length rubbed back and forth, back and forth, causing white-hot heat to course through Dani’s body. She clutched fistfuls of his silver hair, feeling its velvety softness in her warm palms. She wailed in ecstasy when heat pooled in her stomach again. As it hit her, she heard her mentor cry out over her screams.

“Danielle!”

“V-vlad!”

“Together, my dear one! Oh, my truest love!”

“Vlad!!”

“Yes! Yes!”

They both cried out as their climaxes took them. The older man shuddered so hard that it looked like he could break his own bones. His voice spilled from his throat as more pants and moans as all the strength in his limbs left him. He fell on top of Dani, who was also busy panting. The business mogul felt his now wet boxers against his member, knowing full well that his liquid lust had soaked through the expensive undergarment.

But that was what the laundry was for.

Vlad took in the scent of his pupil’s hair, finally feeling relieved after so long. Perhaps he was wrong; perhaps now that he had cum because of Dani and not just because of thoughts of her, maybe he would be satisfied for a while?

He certainly felt like it.

He ran his hand through her black tresses, sighing contently to himself.

The young heroine’s heart was just about spent, but it could still thump at his contact. Butterflies invaded her gut once more and she couldn’t help but smile as well.

After a minute of silence, the ghost girl timidly spoke up: “Vlad?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you O.K. now?”

He laughed. “Yes, my dear, I am quite O.K.”

“Yeah?” She looked in his direction and saw his content little smile.

“Yes. I have not felt this nice in a very long time.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help,” she said with a blush.

“Indeed, you were so helpful, in fact, that I might require your aid again in the future,” Vlad stated with a grin.

“Y-you may need to give me a warning, first,” Dani said with a nervous laugh.

“Don’t fret,” he began as he pulled her into him. “I still don’t intend on forcing you into things that you’re not ready for.”

_Well, at least I’m a little closer to being his equal now. _

Then, she noticed something.

“Hey Vlad?”

“What?”

“Your ponytail is coming undone.”

He chuckled again as he nuzzled his face into her neck.

“I supposed we make a rather silly picture.”

“What do you mean?”

“The two of us, lying on the floor with our pants around our ankles. It's honestly humorous.”

The girl thought about it for a moment.

And then she snickered.

“It **is** a little funny.”

“Indeed.”

“But, at the same time, I don’t really wanna get up,” Dani admitted, hugging her mentor as close to herself as she could.

“I concur, little badger.”

Fatigue seemed to hit the both of them, and so they remained upon the floor, embracing each other until the absolute last moment possible.

*************

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, which Dani was reminded of when she had to leave Vlad’s abode and return home.

She was really starting to hate that bloody curfew.

Electing to fly home and enter her room unnoticed, the ghost girl zipped across town and phased through her window, landing on both once she was inside. With a neutral sigh, she transformed back into human form and flopped down on her bed. Hugging her pillow close to her cheek, Dani recounted the past few hours in the billionaire’s home; they lingered on the cool floor until his cell phone rang. It had been a work call, so it was necessary to remove themselves from one another---apparently, Vlad was unable to speak to his associates professionally if he was absorbed with thoughts of his dear one and cuddling with her.

Or so he claimed.

He pulled his trousers back up and answered the intrusive call. It only lasted for a few minutes, but it was long enough for the chill of the room to invade Dani’s body, making her shiver. After he had hung up, he smiled and helped the heroine to her feet, getting her jeans back on her after she stood. When he finished with that, the older man kissed her forehead and offered to make her something to eat. The younger half ghost accepted---quite enthusiastically---and then the both of them trekked up to the kitchen where the older half ghost prepared a couple servings of pasta. Whatever sauce Vlad used had been delightful, making the girl moan in contentment.

With each one, however, the tycoon would smirk at her, causing Dani to blush. He didn’t have to say it out loud, but she knew what he was thinking. Despite that, the two enjoyed each other’s company without so much as a lewd word or reference uttered.

If you don’t count Dani’s foodgasms.

Which she didn’t.

After that, Vlad escorted the girl to the door, where he suddenly took her into his arms. Embracing her tightly, he said he would see her soon, with a tone so warm and loving that it made the teenager’s heart flutter.

She squealed, remembering the feel of his arms around her. As she fidgeted in her bed, Dani smiled from ear to ear. How on Earth had she gotten so lucky? Being with Vlad was like a dream; a beautiful, wonderful dream that had no ending in sight.

Thank God.

Her fingers went to her sternum, instinctually wishing to play with the gift he had given her. She anticipated the feel of the cool metal against the skin of her digits as well as the rough texture of the tiny pink diamonds.

Elation flooded her. If her mentor was content with spoiling her so much, she wasn’t sure she could handle the extra happiness it brought.

But that happiness quickly slipped away when she didn’t feel the pendant.

Her baby blues shot open (as she had closed them when she hit the bed) and she sat up. She touched her sternum but felt nothing but her skin and the collar of her shirt.

Dani looked down and found it to be absent from her person entirely.

“Oh no,” she muttered, panic rising in her stomach. She hopped off the bed and surveyed the floor, hoping to catch a glimpse of it. She checked the window, the sidewalk beneath her, then the floor of her room again.

“Oh no oh no oh no.”

Had she lost it?

How could she have lost it?!

It was the first gift her mentor had given her, one so full of love and devotion, and she **LOST **it???

“What am I gonna do??” she lamented, grabbing her head and turning madly about the room. “I can’t have lost it already! What am I gonna do?!”

Though she was freaking out, the answer was obvious---she had to retrace her steps.

“But it’s passed my curfew! I’ll have to look for it tomorrow.”

With another sigh, this time a hefty one, she threw herself back on her bed and tried to hold the tears back. She didn’t want to cry over losing something, even if it wasn’t the thing itself that she was sad over. Rather, it was what it represented.

Vlad was head over heels in love with her, the day’s earlier events proved that. The pendant was a physical representation of that love, with every ounce of his affection glimmering in each of it’s pink diamonds.

Would he have ever bought something like that for her mother?

She shook this thought from her head. How could she still have doubts---even now and especially now??

_Perhaps it’s a part of the teenaged condition._

Dani rolled onto her side and pulled the blanket over herself, feeling the warmth of her pink comforter envelope her tiny form.

“I have to find it,” she thought out loud. “I can’t let Vlad know I lost it.”

As her eyelids slid shut, her mind wandered back to what had occurred right after their return from the Ghost Zone. The business mogul had seemed so worried about the ghostly warden, worried to the point of shaking. Whatever he had done to earn Walker’s ire must have been terrible indeed if he was **that **concerned over their encounter.

Maybe she would ask him. Maybe she wouldn’t.

She still didn’t want those imagined words of Sam's to become real. Dani didn’t want to think that her supportive and adoring mentor had done something truly abominable.

“Even if he did, I will stay by his side. He’s not the same person he used to be.”

Sleep took her not long after she said this, bringing her into a dreamland of endless joy and comfort with the man she loved.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to update! I was having some trouble with the formatting of the story and eventually decided to break it up. Therefore, there will be two posts today instead of one! :D Think of it as an early Christmas present. That being said though, I do plan to post another work before or on Christmas, so be looking forward to that!

Dani woke up to the sound of her phone vibrating, unkindly bringing her out of her pleasant dreams. In a groggy manner, she grabbed her cell phone and flicked it open. Upon the screen was a text from Tucker: //_need to talk to u b4 school. come 20 minutes early._//

“What for?” the ghost girl asked herself irritably. What could be so important that the computer geek had to interrupt her treasured sleep time?

Glancing at the clock on her wall, Dani noticed that she didn’t have much time for more sleep anyway, though this didn’t make her any less annoyed.

Sluggish in her movements, the teenager rolled out of bed and fetched a clean pair of jeans from her drawer. It wasn’t supposed to be too cold today, so she figured that leggings weren’t necessary.

After slipping them on, Dani took a long-sleeved, lavender-colored shirt with a graphic of a green and white panda and pulled it over her head. It was a little big on her, but it was comfy and warm. Then she walked over to her desk chair and retrieved her backpack and a black hoodie that had been abandoned some weeks back. As she shrugged her bag onto her shoulder she stepped into a pair of black converse, wondering again what Tucker wanted to talk about. From the urgency of the text, it sounded serious.

Was her grandmother sick? Did she have to move out of town?

Had she found out about what happened yesterday?

_No, no way. Tucker couldn’t have figured out about that already. No one else knows about it. _

The memory of yesterday’s events careened into her mind and made her face flush.

She shook her head. Couldn’t let her family see her with such an expression. After all, what would Jazz think?

Knowing the red-head, she would put two and two together faster than one of Star’s flings. Also knowing her, she would be absolutely **horrified**.

“She doesn’t need to know about that,” Dani said to herself as she exited her room.

Trekking downstairs, the half ghost found her parents in the living room, working on another ghost hunting invention. It looked like the one they worked on before the reunion, only it had significantly more flashing bulbs and mangled tubs.

“I don’t think this was a good idea, Jack,” Maddie stated as she looked the device up and down.

“Nonsense, Maddie!” the rotund father of two countered. “We’ll be able to locate the ghost girl **and **drown her ecto-goo once all the improvements are perfected!”

“Yes, but didn’t we decide that this machine was too dangerous?”

“Eh, it’s not so bad,” Jack dismissed as he fitted one end of tubbing with another, causing the bulbs to simply glow rather than flash.

“Morning,” the 16-year-old said timidly.

“Dani! Good morning kiddo!” Jack enthused.

“How did you sleep last night, hon?” Maddie inquired with a kind smile.

“Pretty good, thanks,” the girl responded as she entered the living room. “So uh…whatcha doing?”

“Working on the newest weapon in our arsenal,” the boisterous man enlightened. “It will be able to track ghosts down and trap them in a web of goop to render them completely harmless.”

At that moment, one of the open-ended tubs leaked a generous amount of green fluid.

“More like a **wave** than a web,” the mother of two remarked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, it looks like you’ve got your hands full, so I’ll just head off to school,” Dani stated before making her way toward the door.

“You don’t have to leave for half an hour yet, don’t you want some breakfast?”

“Yeah, there’s Eggo Waffles in the kitchen,” Jack informed with a wiggle of his eyebrow.

“No thanks, I’ll just grab something on the way.”

“Why not ask Jazz to drive you? If you wait a few minutes, you can have something to eat and a ride to school,” Maddie suggested.

“Nah, it’s fine. Tucker wants to meet me early to talk about something.”

“Well, have a good day Dani!” Jack chirped before focusing on the mess on the floor.

“Be safe, sweetie.”

“Can do!”

The ghost girl exited the house and strolled down the sidewalk. It was chilly, but not like it had been the past few weeks. Despite that, the young heroine regretted not putting in a pair of leggings under her jeans.

She walked several blocks to main street, picking up the road that eventually led to Casper High. Many other students dotted each of the sidewalks, telling Dani that they must have elected to come to school early as well. They were most likely freshmen or sophomores---kids who hadn’t yet been broken by the grueling demands of high school.

When a cold breeze blew passed, the heroine shivered. Most everyone around her was dressed similarly, most likely fearing that winter coats made them look fat.

As soon as the school came into view, the heroine saw Tucker further up the street. Dani jogged over to her and greeted her with a smile.

“Hey!”

“Oh, Dani, hey,” the computer whiz acknowledged in a subdued tone.

“So, you wanted to talk to me about something?”

“It can wait ‘til we’re inside.”

The girls walked in silence as they approached the building. The half ghost’s blue orbs studied her friend intently, looking for some sort clue pertaining to her mood. Tucker was like her---easy to read, so it was always obvious when something was bothering her. However, in this instance, Dani couldn’t figure out what the reason could be. Yesterday, she was in the best of moods, smiling and joking around like she always did. She had teased the heroine about her and Vlad and about her apparent arrogance with regard to her training. The techno whiz had also, apparently, been under the assumption that her training would interfere with patrol, which was a notion that was equally as silly as---

_Wait. _

Patrol!

_Patrol! _

She hadn’t gone on patrol with them last night!

_I completely forgot about patrol!!_

“Tucker, I’m so sorry, I totally forgot about patrol and---”

“This isn’t about that,” the geek said bluntly as they walked through the front doors.

“But I promised that I could make it…”

“Yeah, but that’s not what this is about,” Tucker reiterated.

“Oh…then…?”

“Just hold on a sec.”

The pair ventured down the main hall and when Tucker made a right, Dani thought that maybe they were heading for her locker. However, once they passed it, the ghost girl was confused.

Their destination didn’t become clear until they reached the bathroom closest to their first class.

The techno geek went straight in with the half ghost mere seconds behind. All the stalls were unoccupied, as many of the girls at Casper High avoided this bathroom. It was a bit dingy and some students actually believed that it could be haunted, which was daft.

Locker 724 was the haunted thing in this school and Sidney didn’t like bathrooms anyway.

They reminded him of his torment a little too much.

Tucker set her backpack down and leaned against the wall, standing adjacent to the sinks. She was wearing a large yellow sweatshirt that hung to her knees, which were concealed under a pair of skinny jeans. Upon her feet were her favorite green converse that she’d had since 8th grade, and atop her head was her trademark red beanie.

The geek crossed her arms before letting out a somber sigh.

“Something happened last night.”

“During patrol?”

Tucker nodded.

“What is it?” Dani asked, concern lacing her words.

“Something happened and it was really stupid.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause Sam’s a **freaking** idiot.”

Surprise adorned the heroine’s features. When she saw this, Tucker shook her head.

“He’s got me all kinds of pissed off! Its like---ugh he’s just such an idiot!”

“So…”

“He can’t get his head out of his own ass.”

“O.K., so…”

“He’s the most self-centered piece of---!”

“O.K., Tuck, you’re gonna have to back track a bit,” the ghost girl requested, putting her hands up. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“It was last night, like I said,” she began. “And it was just us and when you didn’t show, I just assumed your training session was keeping you busy.”

_Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. _

“I figured we’d just patrol on our own, and we did, but the whole time Sam didn’t shut up about you and Vlad. It was like he was obsessed!”

“Obsessed, huh?”

“He kept goin’ on and on and **on** about how he didn’t trust Vlad and how he was bad news and would totally hurt you one day! He said that Vlad was up to something, that he was suspicious and possibly even dangerous!”

“But he’s always thought that way,” Dani reminded, feeling a bit of irritation rise in her core.

“But last night he just went **off**! It’s like he couldn’t help himself since you weren’t there!”

The blue-eyed teen furrowed her brow and crossed her arms as well.

“He doesn’t exactly have a filter.”

“No he doesn’t! He’s worse than a group of gossiping cheerleaders! Every time I tried to change the subject, he kept bringing it back to you and Vlad!”

Dani felt really bad now. She had left her friend to the mercy of the goth’s jealousy, and with no way to stop his torrents of reproach. It must have been the most frustrating thing in the world, given how volatile her reaction.

But something about this didn’t add up. Dani doubted that Tucker’s anger stemmed only from Sam’s incessant jabs.

“Hell, at one point I just told him to go after you and he even threatened he would! He was willing to abandon our patrol just to stop you and Vlad from spending anymore time together! I mean, what an ass!! He knows that your sessions are important and that---well---Vlad’s your freaking **boyfriend** now! Sam knows damn well that you’re in love with and **are** with someone else but he won’t let up!”

“He actually tried to leave?”

“Kind of, yeah!” Tucker started, glaring at the sink to her left. “I had to talk some sense into him---you know, remind him that we had a job to do? I told him that we had to make sure there were no ghosts causing trouble, but then he said that since you weren’t there, there wasn’t much point because we didn’t have ghost powers.”

“Well, he’s not **entirely **wrong…”

“There are plenty of ghost hunters that don’t have powers but are perfectly capable of fighting ghosts, Dani,” the computer whiz rebuke, whipping her head back in Dani’s direction.

“O.K., O.K., you’re right,” the blue-eyed teen appeased. “So did you end up having a fight with Sam?”

“Fight would be an understatement,” the techno geek said in an exasperated tone. “He got pissed when I told him to give up on you.”

_Oh boy. _

“I bet he did.”

“He said that I had no right to tell him that, that if anyone could decide how he felt, it was him.”

“Didn’t he say something like that at lunch yesterday?”

“Sure, but what was I supposed to say---‘don’t worry Sam, one day Dani will love you and Vlad will magically cease to exist’?” she asked irritably.

“Well, no…”

“He just can’t let it go! That moron can’t get it through his thick as shit skull that you’re bonded to Vlad forever and that you love him more than anyone else in the world! He can’t accept the fact that he never stood a chance and its really stupid!”

“That’s kinda true, yeah.”

“**He’s** really stupid!”

“That’s kinda true too.”

“Why can’t he just accept it?”

“You’ve got me.”

In truth, Dani knew why. She would be in the same boat if Vlad was with someone else. If that was the case, like he was somehow with her mother (_seriously, stop_), she would be quite upset over it. The young heroine would probably be just as ruthless with her admonitions.

Although, at the same time, she didn’t know if she would ever tell Vlad to his face. Ultimately, she wanted his happiness, and if being with someone else made him so, then she wouldn’t make her feelings known to him.

She would probably just cry herself to sleep every night.

“Sam’s a boy in love, so like I said the other day, we should go a bit easy on him.”

“It’s easy for you to say, you weren’t there last night,” the geek bit back, venom in her voice.

“True, but---”

“It’s just so stupid---**he’s** so stupid!” she yelled as she turned around and kicked the wall.

The heroine had never seen Tucker act this way. Even when at her angriest, the techno whiz never resorted to anything physical like kicking or hitting things. Yelling, shouting, and silly arguing? Yes, but not something like this.

Tucker’s shoulders were now hunched and her hands were balled into tight fists. After a few seconds of watching her, the ghost girl noticed that she was shaking.

“**I’m **so stupid…”

The techno geek started to cry, surprising the heroine. Immediately, Dani stepped over to her and put her hands on the Nubian teen’s quaking shoulders.

“Tucker, what’s wrong?” she asked in great concern.

“I couldn’t help it---it couldn’t stop it! There was nothing I could do!” she sobbed.

“About what?”

“It’s just too hard! It’s hurts so much!” she responded as she turned fully to Dani and bawled against her.

“Tucker…”

“I hate him so much, he’s the freaking worst!”

_Is…is she…?_

“Why did it have to be him, Dani? Why did it have to be Sam??”

The young half ghost held her sorrowful friend close, communicating as much comfort as her body would allow.

“You like him,” the heroine estimated.

“I hate him!” Tucker sobbed.

“You have feelings for him.”

“He’s the worst!”

“But you like him.”

The computer geek grabbed fistfuls of Dani’s hoodie and leaned further against her.

“But why him??”

“You don’t decide to love, Tuck, it just happens.”

She had told the goth teen the exact same thing, and it hurt her now as it did then, knowing why she had to say this. Unrequited love was a special kind of Hell, one that the young heroine was well acquainted with. She knew what it was like to love someone so deeply only to be left wondering.

Although, in her case, her feelings turned out to be mutual after all.

She stroked the back of the techno geek’s head, much melancholy adorning her features. There was nothing she could do; this was not a problem she could hit or blast away. This wasn’t something she could save her friend from, like the clutches of some paranormal baddy or a rampaging bully.

Even so, Dani didn’t want Tucker to feel alone.

Perhaps, then, there **was** something she could do.

“It’s going to be O.K., Tuck, I promise,” Dani reassured.

“A-and what makes you think that?”

“Because one way or another, I’ll be here for you.”

Tucker sniffed and embraced her friend. She cried and sobbed as Dani stood as her rock, a pillar on which she could lean. The heroine hugged her back, continuing to stroke the back of her head and also rub the mournful teen’s back. It broke her heart to see Tucker in such a state. It hurt to see just how much she cared about Sam, yet knowing that her feelings couldn’t be returned. But, as they stood in that bathroom, with the only sounds being that of wracked sobs, Dani found herself quite puzzled. She had no idea where all this came from. If the computer whiz had been in love with Sam for a while, then she had done a very good job hiding it.

She also had to wonder why the computer geek was willing to be comforted by her. Shouldn’t she be angry with her too? Shouldn’t Tucker be just as angry with Dani as she was with Sam?

After all, wasn’t it common for someone to be jealous of and mad at the person who their crush had feelings for?

Although, Tucker wasn’t as petty as that. In fact, the word “petty” could not be used to describe Tucker Foley. No, it was more in character for her to be irritated with Sam; Tucker was a direct person, someone who would tell you straight up if she had a problem with you. Honesty was one of her most prominent traits, and she was blunt to a near painful fault.

She was rather like Vlad in that regard.

The computer geek didn’t keep things to herself and she was generally confident. Had the situation been different, she might have told Sam how she felt.

Now, however, it hurt too much to admit, let alone share it with the person who made her feel this upset.

After five minutes, the computer whiz calmed down a bit and the first bell rang. This meant that they had ten minutes to get to class.

“Tuck?”

The geek gave a hum in response.

“Are you O.K. to go to class?”

She pulled away and wiped her face with her sleeve.

“I have to go to my locker.”

Dani chuckled. “I do too.”

The ghost girl held Tucker’s hand as they exited the bathroom. Not caring if anyone saw them, Dani walked with her cheerless friend to her locker. The geek removed her books in silence and the heroine watched her. Truthfully, she had never seen the computer whiz in such a way. She had been sad in the past, yes, and even heartbroken, but never to this extent. Perhaps she had it bad for the rebel teen? If so, she had to ask herself again---when did this happen?

Dani knew better than to ask about this now. Sensitivity served the situation a bit better.

As the techno whiz closed her locker, the half ghost smiled and reached for her hand again. Tucker shook her head and offered a meek smile of her own.

“I don’t want Paulina and the others to make fun of you.”

“They already do, Tuck.”

Without waiting for Tucker’s response, the blue-eyed teen took hold of her friend’s hand and together they walked to Locker 724. After Dani retrieved her books and said hi to Poindexter, they walked off to class.

Once they arrived, Dani caught sight of Sam, who was leaning up against the wall to the left of the door. He was staring at the floor, a blank look on his face.

The heroine tried not to feel annoyed at him---feeling such a thing did her no good. None the less, there was part of her that couldn’t help it. He had been so focused on** her** that he neglected to notice someone who truly cared for him. He inadvertently stepped on those feelings and refused to see anything outside of his own broken heart.

He was to be pitied, this was certain. But completely absolved to responsibility? No way.

When she approached, the nonconformist looked up from the floor and nodded at her.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Dani replied in a leveled voice.

The boy blinked as he gazed at Tucker, who refused to meet his violet eyes.

“I was worried when you didn’t show up for patrol last night,” he said plainly, still addressing the ghost girl.

“Tucker told me about that, yeah.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, looking back at the heroine. “Did she mention how rude she was?”

“I got the gist of it,” the young half ghost said quickly and with an eyeroll.

“It’s just a good thing you don’t have a training session today,” the goth continued, crossing his arms. “Since it was apparently such a distraction.”

“Look Sam,” Dani began, tension rising in her throat from frustration. “My sessions are really important and if they take a while it means that either I’m learning something vital for fighting ghosts or I’m struggling with something else.”

“You said you were doing better than ever,” Sam countered. “What could be so important that you forget to come on patrol?”

_Do you really want an answer to that? _

The girl’s cheeks blushed at the mere memory of yesterday. She wasn’t sure how the rebel would react if he found out about what happened, nor was she sure how the computer geek would react. She assumed Tucker would be thrilled, elated even, thinking that her relationship was well on its way to becoming equal. Now, given her currently mood, it was hard to tell if Tucker would be happy or indifferent to the news.

“What I do during my training sessions is between me and Vlad,” Dani responded in defense, her voice firm and brow furrowed.

“Is that how it is?” Sam questioned, taking himself away from the wall and standing up straight.

“Yes, it is.”

The goth frowned at the ghost girl, clearing wracking his brain for a way to reply. Instead, he glanced back at Tucker, who was still refused to meet his gaze.

With a huff, Dani marched into the classroom with the computer geek, leaving Sam to the mercy of the uncaring hallway.

*****************

The work had been tedious, but now the billionaire could afford a break. Sitting in his favorite chair in the living room, he let out a contented sigh and let his eyes slide shut. Just a few minutes rest, that would surely wipe the day’s tension from his brow.

Because he had been so busy, Vlad hadn’t had time to think about much of anything. He didn’t think about the Ghost Zone, nor did he think about Walker’s warning.

Now, it was at the forefront of his mind.

His contentedness faded as a stressed look came over his face. Opening his eyes, the older man wondered if he would be able to venture into the Ghost Zone again. If Walker had his away, he never would, which was a worrying fact on its own.

It was essential that Vlad be allowed to travel in and through the Ghost Zone. There was still so much to explore, so much more to learn---not to mention the myriad of treasures just waiting to be found.

This otherworldly realm held secrets, many of which Vlad was acquainted with. None the less, there was more power to be found there, and the tycoon wasn’t about to let some warden with a justice complex hold him back. He wasn’t about to let Walker stop him from expanding his knowledge, and he certainly wasn’t going to let Walker stop him from acquiring more power.

Then something hit him---he **had **managed to obtain more power, power from deep within. Vlad hadn’t given it much thought since Circus Gothica, but now he was in a position where pondering could illuminate some things. For instance, where had that power come from? Had he had it all along? What could it really do if he let it loose?

The older man sat up, eyes focused on the rug but not really seeing it. Was it possible to use it now? He still wasn’t sure what it was, nor was he sure how he used it back on Halloween. His little badger told him that he was a bit frightening, but given how the three teenagers weren’t totally traumatized, it couldn’t have been that bad.

What if he used this power on Walker? No, this probably wasn’t the best idea. After all, it was violence that earned him the ghostly warden’s ire in the first place. Rather, he should discover more about this ability before he used it again.

Was it shape-shifting? He had assumed so for a while, but now he didn’t think so. Somehow, it was different, more primal. What he had done wasn’t the mere mending of ectoplasmic flesh, but something more monstrous, animalistic. The intense rage he felt left quite the impression and he never forgot how powerful it was. He was uncontrolled, a beast unleashed. Normally, such a thing would scare anyone, but Vlad didn’t waste his time being afraid. Just as before, he was fascinated.

_I thought I had reached the cap of my power, but I was mistaken. There is more to my abilities than I thought, and this fact has inspired much fixation in me. I must learn more about this new power, to find out more about how to use it. _

He rose, excitement rising in his core. The last time he felt this was about his powers was 10 years ago, when he discovered the ability of splitting his form. He felt like a kid again, antsy with anticipation with every muscle in his body twitching and impatient.

Vlad made his way to his lab, intending to make use of the plethora of Ghost Zone texts and volumes that he had procured from the Guys in White of the years.

Although, “procured” was being a bit generous.

Once he reached the lab, another feeling took hold once he laid eyes on the ghost portal. His heart panged as memories of yesterday’s activities flooded his mind. He smiled and hummed, remembering the feel of his dear one under him, trembling with fear and desire. The man’s arms slid up his figure as he hugged himself, loosing himself in his thoughts. She was so small, so delicate, so vulnerable. She was all his, his to do whatever he wanted and no one was around to interrupt. He could’ve had her, made her his for all eternity. It would’ve felt so good and he could imagine it even now. His body shivered as the thought of taking his dear little badger overcame his mind. Debauchery invaded his brain and he sighed, though this time it was lustful. The business mogul moaned to himself as he closed his eyes, an action that was entirely instinctual. Seeing her under him again, blue eyes wet with wanting tears and lips parted in uncertainty but also desire---it was enough to make him go mad.

Madder than he already was.

Then something hit him, hit him like a truck. It was something that wasn’t unknown to him, but it brought his delightful visions to a grinding halt. Vlad’s eyes popped open and his face became adorned with fret.

_I have always taken pleasure in inspiring fear and discomfort in others, but never have I felt an inclination to do so with Danielle. Yet, seeing her afraid during yesterday’s little distraction gave me great satisfaction. I was able to stop myself, and I was disturbed by her discomfiture, but there was a part of me that reveled in it. It was a small part, to be sure, but the fact that it is there is troublesome enough. _

Dani told him that even thought she had been afraid, it wasn’t crippling, that it was merely in response to something that was unknown to her. She also told him that she had gotten over it pretty fast, that she was drowning in pleasure for most of it.

None the less, knowing that he had delighted in her fear---even it if was small---was deeply alarming. He didn’t want to hurt her, and he **certainly **didn’t want to make her afraid, so why did he react the way he did? Was it instinctual? Was it merely due to some biological impulse?

Or was he truly a reprehensible soul? Did he actually get a thrill out of Dani’s fear?

He wasn’t happy to see her in pain. He hated seeing her upset. He wanted to destroy anyone who made her cry.

He even chastised himself after the incident with Desiree, where he had scared her, forced himself on her, **and **made her cry.

Vlad hadn’t gotten pleasure out of frightening her then, so why did he now?

Was the billionaire even darker than he thought? He was aware that he was no saint, far from it. In fact, he definitely fit the moniker of a grade A sinner.

He shook his head. Perhaps he was just got caught up in the moment? Maybe his brain was so full of pleasure that the girl’s fear seemed less severe to him?

According to her, it was.

Still, this explanation sounded bad, no matter how it was spun.

_“Less severe”? That makes me sound like a sociopath. _

_Oh wait. _

_No, no, I will have none of that. Perhaps when it concerns other people, I can’t be bothered to care, but with Danielle it is entirely different. I love her. I would never hurt her intentionally. I would never scare her intentionally. Perhaps…perhaps her fear wasn’t so much “fear” as it was uncertainty? Perhaps she was simply uneasy, but not to the point of being anxious or fearful. It certainly wasn’t enough to stop her from wanting me. She made **that **point rather clear. _

Dani was still inexperienced, so it was only natural for her to feel a little uneasy. However, feeling such a way was not necessarily a sign of fright or disgust. After all, everyone tends to be a bit uneasy when faced with something new, especially if it’s something as major as sex or similar activities.

Vlad had been.

Rather than remembering that time in his life, the older man shook his head and focused on his previous thoughts. Dani was young, vulnerable, but she was also capable and determined. That was what he loved about her.

Among other things too, of course.

She wasn’t deterred by her feelings of uncertainty. She continued on with him and even instigated some of the action herself.

Which was, frankly, still a bit surprising to him.

He was proud of his little badger. She stepped up and was truly up to snuff. If yesterday proved anything, it was that she had the fortitude to face any new experience or challenge head on.

Even with this in mind, Vlad was still hesitant to take her back into the Ghost Zone. Not because he thought she couldn’t handle Walker, but rather he worried about her being thrown into the Prison. It wasn’t that much different from prison in the human world, but since it was of the Ghost Zone, it was **forever**.

Hell, if she tried to fight Walker, she’d be sentenced to life---or---afterlife. And for ghosts, this was a long, long, **long **time.

In addition, if they were to encounter Walker again, Dani would become fully aware of how dark the businessman really was---she would learn what he was truly capable of.

Vlad sighed, this time a troubled one. Never again venturing into the Ghost Zone was out of the question, but how could he risk it? Walker alluded to his recent expansion and Vlad knew that he would continue to expand in order to rule the entire Ghost Zone. The ghostly warden wanted to cage every law-breaker and villain in the entire realm, Vlad especially. The older man didn’t put it past him to try.

So, what could he do? Should he risk it and attempt to defeat Walker? Could he use the Fenton Thermos and trap him for all eternity?

He’d have to release him at some point.

Could he invent some sort of device that could hold Walker forever?

Such a thing would take time.

Did he have that kind of time?

Not really.

Vlad paced back and forth in front of the ghost portal. What to do, oh what to do?

His navy orbs drifted to the portal. Was there a way out of this? Was there a way to convince Walker to let him go?

He doubted that.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t allow himself to be cow-towed by the likes of Walker. Maybe this was a matter of showing him who was boss. After all, with the Fright Knight and the Ghost King sealed, who else was there to rival him?

No one.

Black rings appeared at his midsection, turning the billionaire into Vlad Plasmius. He opened his portal, but just before he flew inside an alarm went off. Pausing, Vlad looked at the beacon to his left, which was flashing red. He walked over and rose an eyebrow. The beacon was attached to the machine that mapped the Ghost Zone; this device was used to locate certain areas of the Ghost Zone, track certain ecto-signatures, and lock onto whatever object or artifact that Vlad pleased.

Given he had an ecto-signature to go off of.

The alarm told him that someone was in Walker’s Region, which was the location that his portal was locked onto. The ecto-signature was very unique, being the only one of its kind.

If you didn’t count him, of course.

“Danielle?”

What was she doing in there? Why had she returned to Walker’s Region? Didn’t she know how dangerous it was?

He sighed. “Well, it’s not as if I wasn’t planning on going there myself.”

Without waiting another minute, he jumped into the portal and after his oblivious little badger.

****************

_It’ll be quick. I’ll be in and out before anyone even knows I’m gone. _

That’s what she’d been telling herself since lunch. Dani had to get her pendant back, and she figured that she must have left it in the Ghost Zone somehow. It wasn’t in Vlad’s lab, so it must’ve been floating by their training spot somewhere.

She planned to hop in the Ghost Zone, find it, and get out of here. It was a simple plan, to be sure, but it sounded solid. Of course, finding the thing would be the hardest part, and if she was honest with herself, she would admit that this was a lot more complicated than she was making it.

But she didn’t. Dani didn’t have time for her own unwanted opinions.

As soon as she arrived home, she scurried into the lab and opened the portal. Transforming into Dani Phantom, she watched the swirl of ectoplasm before her. With a determined look on her face, she flew right in.

It took her almost a half hour to find it, but Dani was able to locate the spot from yesterday. With only memory to go off of, it turned out to be a bit harder to find than she thought.

She looked around, green eyes darting from place to place. It had to be here, it just had to! That pendant meant the world to her, and she didn’t want to disappoint Vlad. How could he ever see her as more than a child if she lost the first gift he had given her?

Well, technically, he said that he saw her as more than a child, but that wasn’t the point.

She wanted to prove to herself that she was more than just a child. She wanted to be his equal and she wanted to prove to herself that she was capable of doing so.

And loosing that pendant was mucking that all up.

Suddenly her phone rang, making her jump. Dani reached into her jumpsuit and pulled it out. Much to her relieve, it wasn’t Vlad, but was instead Tucker’s number. Flicking it open with her thumb, the ghost girl continued to survey the area around her.

“What’s up?”

“What’re you up to?” Tucker asked, her voice still melancholic.

“Just looking for something in the Ghost Zone. Vlad gave me a pendant yesterday and I think I left it here.”

“He got you jewelry?” the computer geek inquired, her tone a bit teasing. “Since when were you into stuff like that?”

“I’ve been into jewelry,” Dani said defensively. “I just haven’t been **all that **into it,”

“Uh huh.”

“Anyway, you wanted to know what I was doing, so now you know.”

“I was just wondering if you think I should talk to Sam,” Tucker admitted.

“Why would I think that?”

“‘Cause you’re normally the voice of reason, telling me or Sam that we’re being dumb for fighting.”

She was right. In the past, Dani served as a mediator for the two of them. She would have to be the one to tell them that they were being idiots and to hurry and make up before she made them.

“I know, but this is more than just an argument,” the young half ghost stated. “You have feelings for Sam, and those feelings made you blow up at him the way you did. It’s hard to defuse that kind of thing.”

“So, you don’t think I should talk to him yet?”

“Not until you’ve calmed down a bit, and him too, for that matter. Remember how mad he got when I told you guys that I was in love with Vlad?”

“How could I forget?” Tucker said in an almost bitter voice.

“I think you two need to chill first. Talk to him only after you’re sure you can handle it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” the techno whiz agreed.

“I’m curious though, why call me about this? Wouldn’t you’ve just let this go for a while before doing anything about it?”

“Normally, but this isn’t normal.”

“Good point.”

“I wasn’t always sure I liked him, but it became pretty clear a week ago.”

“A week ago?” Dani repeated. Would Tucker answer her questions without even being asked to?

“When the Guys in White were here. I thought it was kinda funny seeing Sam all upset that Vlad was watching over you, but I realized that I was just frustrated. I was trying to ignore it, I guess, like I didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

“I remember you laughing on our way to gym. You said that Sam needed to get a hobby.”

“I was jealous, I think. Not so much of you, but I was upset that he was acting so protective of you and not me. I found myself wishing that he was that annoyed because of me and not you. I wanted him to be as dedicated to me as he was to you.”

Guilt rose in Dani’s chest. She knew she wasn’t responsible to other people’s feelings, but she couldn’t help feeling bad. Tucker was one of her best friends, and now she was causing her grief, even if it was indirect. First, she had broken Sam’s heart, and now she was causing Tucker to feel jealousy.

“I’m sorry Tucker,” the ghost girl said with a downtrodden expression. “I had no idea you felt that way.”

“How could you, though? I never told you. Besides, didn’t I tell you that you’re not responsible for Sam’s feelings? Well, you’re not responsible for mine either.”

_Yeah, I know that, but it doesn’t really help._

“Still…”

“Look, Dani,” the geek started, her tone reassuring. “Just because I’m in love with Sam and Sam’s in love with you doesn’t mean you have to feel guilty. Wasn’t it you that said that you don’t decide to love? That it just kind of happens?”

“Yeah…I did say that.”

“So, there you go. Nothing’s changed, Dani. We’re all still friends and I wouldn’t change that for the world.”

The girl smiled and let out a breath she didn’t realized she was holding.

“Thanks Tucker, I needed to hear that.”

“And you know that I need to hear?”

“What?”

“How awful Sam is.”

Dani laughed.

“I wanna hear you call him a jerk and say that he’s the worse human being on the planet!”

“I thought you loved him?”

“I do, but that’s why I get to insult him. It’s ‘cause I love him that I know how much of a dick he is.”

“Oh, is that how it works?” Dani inquired with a smirk.

“Indeed, it is,” Tucker joked.

Dani rolled her eyes, amused by her friend’s joshing, when she caught sight of something shiny floating a few feet away.

“My pendant!” she shouted in glee.

“Ow, Dani! Right in the ear!”

“Sorry, but I just found the pendant Vlad gave me,” the girl explained as she flew over to it. Cupping it in her hands, her smile turned into a tender one.

“Well bully for you, girl,” the geek said sardonically. “But I don’t see how that’s gonna pay for my medical bills.”

“Oh save it ya big baby,” Dani said as she gazed at the diamonds, still glittering and beautiful. Her heart fluttered and she held to close to her chest. Without wasting another second, she put it on.

“Anyway, do you think you can come over? I don’t really want to be alone with my thoughts,” the computer geek asked. “I don’t want to be a alone and think about Sam.

“You want to be in the company of others and think of Sam.”

“Right.”

Dani chuckled. “I’m on my way.”

“Say, how much was the pendant?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t put it past Vlad to buy me something expensive. I mean, it’s a Swarovski.”

“Wait, seriously?! Dude! It’s probably worth more than both my kidneys!”

The young half ghost giggled. Tucker was probably right.

Suddenly, Dani flew into something. It was solid, but soft. When she looked up, she came face to face with Plasmius, who bore a look of disapproval.

“Vlad!”

“Wait, Vlad’s there?” the techno whiz asked.

“Danielle,” he began, raising an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

“I---uh---”

“You know the Ghost Zone isn’t somewhere you should be right now.”

“I-I know! I was just---”

_Crap! I can’t tell him that I lost his gift! He might be really disappointed. _

_But, he’s probably already disappointed. _

“Girl, is Vlad there?”

“Uh---I’ll have to call you back. I’ll be over in a bit.”

She hung up and slipped her phone back into a pocket in her jumpsuit. As she looked at Vlad’s face, she could see his annoyance quite clearly. It wasn’t as if he’d told her **not **to go in the Ghost Zone, but she understood that it was dangerous at the moment, what with Walker wandering about. She knew that coming back was risky, that Vlad would probably not approve, but she did none the less.

Now she felt guilty for an entirely different reason.

“I’m sorry, I just had to find it.”

“Find what?”

She fiddled with her pendant, which now sat at her sternum. “I…I lost this yesterday. I figured I left it here when Walker showed up.”

The billionaire gazed at it. She came back into the Ghost Zone, putting herself at risk just to retrieve it. He was definitely annoyed that she would take such a huge risk for a simple trinket.

But he was also happy. She valued his gift so much, knowing what it symbolized. Sure, it was just a piece of jewelry, one that can be easily replaced, but it was an object of great significance to his little badger. Something he bought for her mattered that much to her.

He couldn’t help but smile.

Plasmius took Dani into his arms, surprising her. She was sure she was in for lecture, but who was she to complain?

“Thank you, little badger,” the older man said with honey lacing his words.

“I couldn’t leave it here. It means a lot to me,” the half ghost heroine explicated into his shirt, a blush rising in her cheeks. “It’s my treasure.”

“And you’re my treasure, Danielle,” the older half ghost declared, pulling away just enough to look into her eyes.

They stared at one another, smiling and holding each other. Dani knew she sounded like a broken record, but she just had to ask---how had she gotten so lucky??

Vlad was the only man in the world for her, he was the only one who could make her feel this happy. Even if she had doubts, even if she compared herself to her mother, Dani knew that she and Vlad were forever, that they truly loved and cared for each other. There was nothing that could separate them, nothing that could destroy their love for one another. With feelings so intense, how could anyone think otherwise?

Then, out of nowhere, chains wrapped around Plasmius, pulling him away from Dani. She cried his name, seeing him being yanked backward by a couple of ghosts who looked like guards. One of them was holding a metal baton and the other was holding Vlad’s chains. The older man thrashed and struggled, but the chains lit up with a blue light and electrocuted him. He shouted in irritation, continuing to writhe as the guard with the baton hit him in the back. The sound that was emitted was sickening, akin to dead flesh hitting the cold floor of a slaughterhouse.

“Vlad!!” Dani cried again, quickly racing over to help only to also grabbed from behind. Rather than chains, however, it was Walker, who’s hands were now around her slim wrists.

“I knew that if we waited around here you would show yourself,” he said in a firm voice.

“Let Vlad go!” Dani demanded.

“Vlad Plasmius, you are under arrest for the obliteration of twelve ghosts in and around the Ghost Zone.”

“What?” the girl vocalized, complete disbelief careening into her mind. Obliteration of twelve ghosts? Did that mean that Vlad had **killed **them?

“_When humans die, they can become ghosts, but even ghosts can cease to exist. It doesn’t happen naturally, as in over time, like it does with people. Rather, they can be destroyed._”

Is that what Vlad did? Did he destroy those ghosts?

“And you, little miss,” Walker began, looking down at her with contempt in his stare. “are under arrest for trespassing as well as harboring a fugitive.”

“What?!” the ghost girl exclaimed in indignation. “Vlad’s not a fugitive!”

“He is guilty of twelve counts of complete obliteration, forty counts of trespassing, three counts blackmailing and general manipulation, seven counts of assault and battery, and two counts of disturbing the peace, and you say he’s **not** a fugitive?”

“This is the Ghost Zone! There is no peace! Everyone is always moaning!” the ghost girl rebuked.

“Vlad Plasmius is a menace to this realm and you’d better be careful,” the ghostly warden warned, his eyes narrowed. “Or I may have to upgrade your charges from harboring a fugitive to accessory after the fact.”

“Get your hands off of her!!” the billionaire shouted, baring his fangs and continuing to thrash.

“One count of resisting arrest. That’s another charge against you,” Walker stated unforgivingly.

“Vlad!”

“Take him away, boys. And be sure to read him his rights.”

“Vlad!!”

The guards dragged the tycoon away, all while he bellowed and struggled. His eyes flashed fuschia and he attempted to escape by blasting his chains, but it was of no avail.

As the gloom of the Ghost Zone enveloped them, Dani turned to her captor.

“You can’t do this!”

“Oh no? I am the Administrator of Justice, little miss,” he said coldly. “It’s my job to find and lock up criminals and those who evade the law.”

“Please, just let him go! Just let Vlad go and you’ll never see him again! We’ll never come back here so please!”

“Trying to bribe me, are you? That’ll get you a hundred years, little miss.”

“What? No! I’m not trying to do anything! Please, you don’t understand, Vlad’s changed, he’s---”

“If I had a dime for everttime I’ve heard that one,” Walker said as he tugged Dani further into him. “You and your boyfriend aren’t going anywhere. He has shown no regard for the residents of the Ghost Zone and has openly spat on the rules that govern us all. And you, sweet little miss, would dare to make excuses for him---to aid and abet a known criminal who has no concept of common decency?”

“No…no, you’re wrong! Maybe he did some real bad things in the past, but he’s not like that anymore! He’s a better person than who he used to be!”

“Didn’t seem too convincing of that, though did he?” Walker asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. It was a smirk that made Dani’s spine shiver. “The way he thrashed like that, why, he looked like a rapid dog.”

Walker then yanked Dani fully against him, eliminating any means for her to escape. She felt his body overwhelm her own with a massive chill. What should have been body heat was entirely the opposite, making her already troubling situation even more unpleasant.

“You didn’t heed my warning,” he said, his smirk fading from his face. “Neither you or your wanted fugitive, and now you’re going to face the music.”

Dani felt another chill go up her spine. The way he was looking at her was void of any sort of warmth or kindness. No, this was the stare of a man (or ghost, in this case) that lacked any sort of empathy whatsoever.

And he claimed that **Vlad** was a menace to the Ghost Zone.

Suddenly, the girl felt something heavy being slapped onto her wrists. She broke eye contact and found large handcuffs circling them, each cuff illuminated by blue light, much like Vlad’s chains. She tried to struggle as well, but upon seeing Walker’s judgmental eyes again, she stopped. Resigned to her fate, she looked at her feet and tried not to cry.

“Ah, that’s better,” Walker said, his tone low and approving. “I like it when they give in.”

******************

The Prison complex was bigger than Dani imagined, with five large buildings constructed out of purpled-painted steel and numerous watchtowers enclosed behind a massive wall of the same color and metal. At the top of the wall was barbed wire, glowing yellow, which would spark every few seconds. It looked painful, even by ghost standards, and Dani couldn’t help but shiver when she saw it.

She had been taken through the front doors, with two guards to receive her. Walker told her that she would be in huge trouble if they were to meet again. After this warning, he vanished before the ghost girl could ask him where Vlad was being held. She still didn’t want to believe it, any of it. All the charges that were filed against him---there was no way any of them were true, right?

…

Right?

As the guards shoved her through the front yard and into the first building on the left, Dani’s mind raced. How was she going to get her and Vlad out of this? Was there a way to escape?

Was he really that dangerous?

Did he really do all those things?

“_Of course I was right about him_.”

Dani shook her head. Maybe it was true, but that didn’t change anything! Maybe Vlad deserved to be punished for the things he did but surely this was overkill! He didn’t deserve to be hauled off like of animal and treated like he wasn’t a person.

Still, despite her judgement, the heroine was still very much in shock. To think that her kind, supportive, devoted mentor had not only blackmailed and assaulted other ghosts, but he also **killed **twelve of them? In Walker’s words, he had obliterated them, which was probably the equivalent of murder in the Ghost Zone.

But Skulker **hunted **other ghosts, so why wasn’t he in here?

Dani was then shoved into two large doors, knocking her out of her thoughts. The doors opened inward and a long hallway lined with cells greeted her eyes. Almost all of the cells were occupied, and all of these occupants were female ghosts. The young heroine was shoved yet again, causing hot rage to flood her veins.

“Alright, already!” she spat before walking into the cell block. A large black “A” sat on the wall above the doors on the other end, and four rows of cells reached up from the floor to the ceiling, which appearing to be 20 feet high, maybe higher.

As she walked down the cell block, hooping and hollering erupted from the cells. Some of the ghosts glared and yelled, others jeered and snickered as she passed. Their words mingled, but the young half ghost could make out a few phrases here and there: “Oh look, if it isn’t the ghost girl!”, and “It’s about time you wound up in here” were very popular.

Once they reached the end of the corridor, one of the guards opening the very last cell on the left and the other pushed her in into it. The door slammed shut with a harsh clang and without a second to waste the guards were on there way. Dani grabbed the bars and looked back and forth---up and down the cell block. Since hers was the last cell on the at the end of the hall, the large doors were her view to the left, but on the right was the hall she has just walked down.

“Well well well, fancy seeing you here, baby cakes.”

The teenager looked across from her and saw Ember in the opposite cell, dressed in a grey t-shirt and matching joggers and sitting on the cot, glaring at her with harsh eyes.

“Ember? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same thing about you, but I suppose that would get us nowhere,” the ghostly idol said as she crossed one leg over the other.

“You were arrested too, but why?”

“Why do you care, ghost girl?” Ember asked with venom in her voice. “You’re the one who sent me in here.”

“What?”

“We’re all here because of you, you know, you and that boyfriend of yours.”

_Vlad! _

“Ember! Do you know where Vlad is?” the heroine asked, grabbing the bars more intently.

“How the hell should I know? Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you,” she replied, pulling out a nail file and manicuring her polished-black nails.

“Please, Ember! Help me out here!”

“Why should I? After you and your sugar daddy humiliated me in front of the whole world **and **got me thrown in here, why on MJ’s Earth would I help you?”

She had a good point.

“Face it, Juliet, you have no friends in here and either does your Romeo. Come dinner time, you’ll be torn apart.”

As Ember laughed, Dani turned around and slid down the bars until she was sitting on the floor. Tears licked at her eyes but she wiped them as quickly as they formed. Giving up was not an option. She couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. Her eyes wandered to her pendant. She knew that Vlad would be trying to reach her too, so she had to hold out hope. As she ran her thumb over the “D” shaped pendant the young heroine started to think. If Vlad wasn’t here, then he was obviously somewhere else, and if prison movies taught her anything, it was that he would be held in a cell block designated for the most dangerous offenders---in essence, some kind of maximum security wing. She just had to find it. If she could locate where this cell block was and manage to get past all the guards, she could find Vlad and bust them out of here.

Hopefully.

**************

She only had to wait an hour before two new guards appearing with a prison uniform. They told her to change and to hand over any weapons she may have been carrying. Dani gave them her Thermos but before they noticed, she turned her pendant invisible. Once they had the Thermos they turned around, providing her with some privacy as she changed into the prison-approved attire (which was, of course, the same clothes Ember and the other prisoners were wearing). The guards turned back around just as Dani had gotten the shirt over her head. Then, one of them stuck his hand threw the bars, silently requesting that she give him her jumpsuit. She did as she was told, and once they were out of sight, the heroine made her pendant visible again. She sighed sadly as she stroked it. Then, in order to make sure it remained hidden, she slipped in under her shirt.

After another couple hours went by, Dani was on her cot, staring at the ceiling without seeing it. Was Vlad O.K.? Was he thinking about how to get them out of here? Did he already have a plan?

She hoped so, ‘cause she sure as a hell didn’t.

Then she thought about Tucker and Sam. Was Tucker concerned about her? After all, she was supposed to go over to her place. And Sam, was he worried too? Did Tucker call Sam to try and figure out what happened?

Dani’s phone was in her jumpsuit, so there was no way she could get in touch with them. In fact, she had to marvel at the fact that Tucker was even able to reach her in the first place. She was able to receive calls in the **Ghost Zone**.

But then she remembered: her father had placed tiny devices in her and Jazz’s phones that were “ghost-proof”, so it stood to reason that they could receive calls and messages in the Ghost Zone. Heck, they may be able to send them as well.

_Anyway, that’s not important right now. I have to find a way to get out of here and find Vlad._

As if on cue, a loud noise blared through the cell block. It sounded like a crass doorbell, only louder and more jarring. Then, all of the cell doors opened. For the briefest of moments, Dani thought she was saved, only to see her fellow prisoners step out of their cells and stand quietly.

Even Ember did this, and with a grace of a person who has done this many times before. Had she really been in here for so long?

Dani scrambled out of the cell, fearing that if she didn’t move quickly she’d get some kind of reprimand. As she took her spot outside of her cell, the heroine noticed three guards at the end of corridor, standing in a row in front of the doors that led outside. The guard in the middle began hovering down the hall, surveying every prisoner with great scrutiny. For some reason, this was rather nerve-wracking, and Dani’s stomach became victim to a flood of anxious butterflies. She took a deep breath as the guard approached, but when his red eyes landed on her, Dani’s heart started to thump in apprehension.

The guard hovered up to her and sized her up. She gave a nervous laugh and a meek smile, but he said nothing. Then, he turned back around and floated back down the corridor. Once he was with the other guards, his brow furrowed.

“Alright, ladies, it’s dinner time!” he yelled, his voice carrying. Even though he was so far away, he sounded like he was right next to the ghost girl, shouting in her ear.

_Must be the stupid echo. _

All of the ghosts walked single file, with Dani bringing up the rear of her line. They all walked out the front doors quietly and never looking anywhere but forward. The heroine, however, took the liberty of looking around her, taking in as much of the Prison as possible. All the buildings towered overhead, being **at least **30 feet high. They all possessed cold facades, with each one bearing no light or warmth of any kind. The Ghost Zone was known for its lack of natural light, but this was something else---it was distant and frigid.

As they walked further into the front yard, a certain building caught Dani’s eye. A few feet away from its front door was a metal sign that read “Male Ward”.

_Maybe Vlad’s in there. _

She was at the back of the line, so perhaps no one would notice if she happened to wander off. She took one look at the guards and smirked to herself. Turning invisible, she took a step toward the Male Ward but then she heard someone address her.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

It was Ember.

“Why?” the young girl asked

“‘Cause you’ll get caught. You can’t use your powers in here.”

“I don’t care if Walker has some rule about---”

“No, I mean, you literally can’t use your powers in here. But if you’re so determined to find your boyfriend then by all means give it a shot. It’ll be fun watching Walker’s men throw you around like a ragdoll.”

“What do you mean I can’t use my powers in here?” Dani inquired as she turned visible again. “I just did.”

“Oh sure, in the yard you can get away with it, but not once you’re inside one of the buildings. All these fancy sensors go off and some lasers home in on you and zap you until you stop moving.”

“Yikes,” the girl winced.

“Then, your ass is thrown into Solitary.”

The ghost girl glanced at the Male Ward as it loomed behind them, her eyes sad. If Vlad was in there, she had to find out. Although, since they were on their way to “dinner”, maybe she would see the older man there?

She hoped so.

“Why are you telling me all of this? I thought you didn’t want to help me?”

“I don’t. I just thought you’d like to know a few things about your new home.”

“I won’t be staying,” the girl insisted, furrowing her brow. “Vlad and I are going to get out of this place.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. No one has escaped from the Prison before, and Walker would rather chuck himself into a vat of boiling ectoplasm than let that record fall.”

They came up to another building and the half ghost couldn’t stop herself from looking at it. It appeared to be an Administration building, if the sign out front was any indicator. It, unlike all the other prison structures, had lights in the windows and what looked like curtains. It also wasn’t metal but looked to be made out of wood. From a distance, however, it blended in with all the other buildings.

Walker had to be in there. He had to be going over prisoner files or something like that, just biding his time until he could go out on another detaining spree.

Dani glared at the structure, finding it just as offensive as the ghost himself. When they passed it, the girl’s attention was drawn to the building directly in front of them. It was two stories tall, with thin horizontal windows at the top, with what looked like guards behind them, who were scowling downward at the yard. The sign outside of this particular edifice read “Mess Hall”, and upon seeing it Dani’s heart felt a little less heavy. Soon, she would be reunited with her One and Only, and soon they would be able to plan their escape. Ember’s warning didn’t frighten her any; Dani was not afraid of this stupid prison, or the guards or Walker. With Vlad by her side, there was no reason to be afraid.

The lofty doors opened with a rather grating sound as it scraped against the steel floor. Before the ghost girl was a large, open room with about twenty bench tables in the center and a circular terrace above. Two flights of steps on either side of the room led up to the terrace, which was currently swarming with guards. From where she stood, Dani couldn’t see the horizontal windows, but she assumed they were up there. She also could see the menagerie of ghost sitting at the tables, all of them dawning the same prison outfits and eating what looked like slime. The blobs that jiggled on their trays were either blue, purple, or green.

_I guess I never thought of it before, but it looks like even ghosts have to eat. But still…it looks kinda gross. _

She wasn’t that hungry anyway.

Her green eyes scanned the room for her mentor, but she didn’t see him. Then she was shoved by another guard who told her to hurry up and get in line. Ember shot her a smirk, which Dani ignored. The two lines then formed into one, with the ghost girl at the very end. She felt eyes on her, so she gazed at the other prisoners and found almost all of them staring at her, many of them with faces of disdain. Some, however, were looking at her like she was a fine specimen of meat.

To her horror, she found the Lunch Lady, Skulker, and several other past enemies peering at her.

_So…Skulker **is **in here…_

Is this what Ember meant when she said she’d be torn apart?

Lovely.

Dani had to suppose that Skulker wasn’t too happy to see her, given that the last time they had fought he got his ass handed to him by Vlad. The memory made her chuckle still.

After a few minutes she was at the start of the buffet. Grabbing a tray, Dani observed the various slops that lay behind the glass. She didn’t want to appear abnormal, so she took a ladle of green goop and slapped it on her tray. It didn’t have an odor, but the sight of it was enough to make Dani gag.

Vlad would hate this.

As the line inched forward, Dani saw Ember walk out of her place and sit at Skulker’s table. There, the ghostly idol seemed to whisper something to the hunter, who laughed at loud and then proceeded to glance at the heroine. Dani flinched. What could they be planning?

Several other ghost left their place in line and went to sit down somewhere, prompting Dani to do the same. She hoped to find a place void of ghosts, but every single table was occupied by at least two of them.

This did not bode well.

Standing before the crowded room, the ghost girl felt like she was back in school, staring into the cafeteria with helpless eyes. She wished that her mentor was here. The young heroine wished to God that he was in the room somewhere, but upon further inspection it was clear that he wasn’t.

Where was he?

She took a timid step into the flood of tables, doing her best to avoid eye contact with anyone as she walked. The teenager found a table with only two ghosts sitting on the end closest to the next table, so she strode over to the other end and sat down. Pushing her tray away, she crossed her arms and rested her chin upon them, baring a forlorn expression. If the billionaire wasn’t here, when was he being kept in his cell? Was Walker having a word with him? Was he being harassed by some of the guards?

Even if he was, Vlad wouldn’t put up with it. He would fight back, even if it meant being punished for it.

Wait, maybe that was it!

_Maybe he’s being kept away in his cell because Walker set him up! Walker could have created a situation where he knew Vlad would fight back, and then he could’ve labeled him a threat or something and lock him back up! Not on my watch! Don’t worry, Vlad, I’ll get us out of here. _

A shadow loomed over her, causing the girl to look up. Standing above her was Skulker, Ember, and the Lunch Lady, all of them wearing menacing grins.

“What do you want?” Dani questioned, patience absent from her voice.

“We thought we’d might welcome Walker’s newest victim,” Skulker illuminated.

“You just looked so sad over here dearie, all by yourself,” the Lunch Lady added.

“I’m not in the mood to deal with you guys right now,” the heroine said with a glare. “I just want to be left alone.”

“Well, tough,” Skulker replied before slamming his hands on the table. “See, there’s plenty of people here who are **dying **to see you.”

“And you don’t want to disappoint everyone, do you?” the Lunch Lady jabbed, tilting her head to the side.

“I don’t care if there’s a line out of the door, tell your friends that---”

Suddenly, Skulker grabbed Dani by her shirt and tossed her into the wall. Her back hit the steel, sending a pang of discomfort through her. When she hit the floor, she heard laughter echo through the room. She grunted and looked up, seeing her attacker standing tall, smirking down at her. Ember was to his left and the Lunch Lady was to his right, both of them smirking also. Dani wasn’t about to take this lying down, so she rose and charged her fists with ecto-energy.

Then a loud BEEP went off and a red beam of light sent her to the floor again.

“I warned you about the sensors,” the ghostly idol reminded in a condescending tone.

“You’re just as powerless as the rest of us, but…” Skulker began as he picked Dani up by her collar. “Unlike you, the rest of us don’t rely on our powers alone.”

“This is why you need to eat meat,” the Lunch Lady said with a shake of her head.

“And now you’re going to get everything that’s been coming to you,” Ember taunted.

“W-wait, hold on---!”

Skulker threw Dani across the room and into the opposite wall. Then, before she could even get up, several other ghosts rounded on her and started kicking her in the chest. She cried out, feeling her ribs being hit over and over again. One of her assailants took hold of her ankle and tossed her into a table, which was occupied by five other ghosts. The table was destroyed, and Dani had purple and blue goop all over her. As the rest of the room jeered, the Lunch Lady flew over to her and punched her into the ceiling. The guards witnessed this but did nothing. The ghost girl stared at them, as she was wedged into the ceiling. They gazed at her with uncaring eyes.

_Isn’t fighting not tolerated in prisons?! _

Ember soared toward the heroine and grabbed her arm tightly. She gave her a wicked smile and then sent her back to the ground. The girl slammed into the floor, destroyed three tables when she made impact. Skulker pulled her out of the debris and gave her a toothy smile.

“The hunt has commenced, whelp,” he stated. “And this time, no one is going to help you.”

Just then, a fork came flying into Skulker’s head, emitting a sharp clang. He looked puzzled for a moment, and then he turned in the direction of the utensil. Dani followed his gaze and saw a green eyed, ash-skinned ghost with shoulder length blond hair sitting at another table.

“Johnny 13?” Dani asked in shock.

“Would you mind keeping it down? You’re annoying me.”

Naturally, he was without his trademark biker jacket and bad boy aesthetic and was instead dressed like everyone else. However, his tough-as-nails glare was still in place.

“Oh, so sorry Johnny,” Ember said, once again, in a condescending voice. “Didn’t realize you had such a delicate constitution.”

“Stay out of this, 13,” Skulker cautioned with a frown. “Don’t forget that I haven’t given up on you and your shadow.”

“Shadow’s out of our reach, dipshit,” Johnny responded in a dry tone. “Even **you** can’t wrangle anything in Solitary.”

“Hasn’t stopped him from trying,” Ember commented, giving Skulker the side eye.

“Walker can’t keep me from the hunt,” the ghostly hunter declared. “My collection will be completed, and I’ll be sure to add him, you, and the ghost girl to it.”

“I don’t suppose I get a say in that?” Dani asked.

“If you keep this up, you may get your wish, ‘cept it’ll be **you **that joins you over-crowded freakshow,” Johnny said as he stood up.

“Is that a threat?”

“No,” the ghostly biker said before walking over to Skulker and narrowing his eyes. “But you’d better put the girl down before I kick your fucking teeth in.”

Skulker and Johnny glared at each other, neither of them backing down.

_Dang, you can just smell the testosterone. _

And yet, Dani had to wonder, was Johnny trying to protect her? Was he standing up for her? Didn’t he hate her as well?

Johnny’s glare intensified, making Skulker chuckle.

“Do you really think you can scare me, 13? Without your shadow, you’re no more dangerous than the Box Ghost.”

“Hey, come on man, that’s low!” the heroine chastised.

“I mean it, Skulker,” Johnny 13 warned. “You don’t want this problem.”

“Oh, and what are you going to do, boy?”

“This.”

Johnny took in a deep breath, and suddenly he was wearing the friendliest smile in the world. It was the kind of smile that would make cheerleaders jealous.

“I would love to plan a break-out with you Skulker!” he announced at the top of his lungs. Then, without a second to waste, all of the guards above their heads glared down at them.

“Oh shit,” Ember murmured.

“Hey, 13, kept your voice down, what’re you trying to do?!” Skulker whisper yelled.

“And invite Ember and the Lunch Lady to get involved? What a marvelous idea!”

“Hey, don’t bring us into this, you idiot!” the ghostly idol hissed.

“Don’t make me angry, mister,” the Lunch Lady cautioned as she bared her teeth.

“You don’t think Walker will know what hit him? Boy, aren’t you guys confident!” Johnny continued, turning around and spreading his arms. “And hear I thought you were afraid of Walker, but I guess you think he’s just as stupid as the guards, huh?”

Right then, all of the guards’ eyes flashed red and they growled at Dani’s tormentors.

“Fuck,” Ember said, looking up at the guards.

“Language, Ms. McLain,” the Lunch Lady replied, also looking up at the guards. Then every single one of them leapt over the railing and wailed on Ember, the Lunch Lady and Skulker, causing the ladder to drop the heroine. She landed on the floor but before she could even breath Johnny 13 grabbed her hand and dragged her to the front doors.

A riot started behind them and Dani couldn’t take her eyes off the fracas. The guards were pummeling as many ghosts as they could, apparently no longer caring about the original three by themselves.

Johnny dragged Dani out the doors and into the yard. When they were a few yards away he stopped running and let go of her hand. Dani, confused, looked up at him with puzzled eyes.

“Why did you help me back there?”

“Let’s just say that a certain woman would kill me again if I let you get mauled by Skulker and the others.”

She was still confused, but then realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Kitty?”

Johnny nodded.

“Wait, is she in here?”

Johnny shook his head. “I made sure she got away. I didn’t want her to end up in here.”

“She was able to escape How long have you been in here?”

“Yeah. About a month.”

“Hasn’t Kitty tried to get you out?”

“Nah, I told her not to. She could get caught, and that would defeat the purpose of helping her get away,” he responded.

“I guess it would.”

“So, kid, what’re you in for?” Johnny asked with a raised eyebrow.

“According to Walker? For harboring a fugitive.”

“And according to you?”

“Being someone he apparently doesn’t like.”

Johnny laughed. “He doesn’t like anyone.”

“I kind of gathered that,” the girl replied, looking off to the side.

“So, harboring a fugitive, eh? That’s a pretty serious offense,” the ghostly biker said with a grin. “Color me impressed.”

“What about you? What did Walker arrest you for?” Dani asked in curiosity.

“For stealing, trespassing, disturbing the peace, and speeding.”

“Speeding? How can you speed when there’s no roads in the Ghost Zone?”

“Walker’s a stiff---can’t stand anything fun or exciting in **his **Ghost Zone. He sees everyone as a criminal for some reason or another and wants nothing more than to lock everyone up for good.”

“Geez, what bug crawled but his butt?” the heroine asked rhetorically.

“Gotta say, you’ve surprised me kid. I could’ve sworn that if you ever wound up in here it would be because you pissed him off or attacked one his guards without knowing.”

“I think I did piss him off, even though I wasn’t trying to,” Dani stated, looking at the ground. “I tried to reason with him, but he accused me of bribing him.”

“Yeah, reason isn’t something that comes naturally to him.”

“And now it’s my fault that Vlad’s in here,” the girl lamented.

“Vlad?”

“Yeah, he’s only in here because of me. Walker warned us yesterday to stay away, but I came back into the Ghost Zone to find a gift Vlad gave me, and he must have seen me and followed me.”

“Hold up, this wouldn’t happen to be Vlad Plasmius, would it?”

“Yeah…why?”

“Oh shit, the ol’ warden went and caught him,” the ghostly biker muttered as he held his chin. “He’s been trying to catch that dude for years.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Walker’s got a real hate boner for him.”

_No surprise there. _

“But what were you doing with him? Why would he have come into the Ghost Zone looking for you?”

“‘Cause he’s…well…” Dani started, a blush rising in her cheeks. “he’s my One and Only.”

Johnny looked astonished.

“Holy shit, really? **He’s **your One and Only?” **The **Vlad Plasmius is your One and Only??”

“What’s so weird about that?” Dani asked, almost defensively.

“Vlad Plasmius is a certifiable badass! He’s one of the strongest ghosts in the Ghost Zone and without a doubt one of the most terrifying.”

Unease coursed through the young girl.

“Is he really that scary?”

“No shit! He once obliterated twelve ghosts in the span of five seconds! Dude’s bad news, even among the worst of us.”

So it was true. Vlad really **did **kill twelve ghosts. But surely there was a reason? Self-defense, maybe?

_Give it up, girl. You knew that Vlad had a darker side, and now it’s more obvious than ever. He was always capable to doing really bad things, and there’s no way I can ignore that now. _

_Even still, I’m not going to abandon him. I stand by what I said, He’s capable of bad, but I know he’s capable of good too. _

“Wow. **He’s **your bonded partner…now **that’s** impressive.”

Dani looked at Johnny 13.

“He’s not that bad anymore. I’ve seen him do things that benefited others and I know he’s capable of changing.”

“A stone-cold bastard like Plasmius? I’ll believe it when I see it,” Johnny countered with a grin.

Dani felt her eyebrow twitch.

“So yeah, um, I don’t suppose you can help me find him.”

“Well, the last time we met you kicked the crap out of me and humiliated me in front of my girlfriend,” Johnny 13 reminisced, looking up and cupping his chin again.

“Aw come on, you said Kitty would kill you if you didn’t help me!”

“And I did. I got you out of the Mess Hall in one piece.”

“Please, Johnny, I need to get Vlad out of here!” Dani implored, desperation in her eyes. “We can’t stay in this prison forever! We have to get back to Amity Park!”

“Why does Plasmius need to get back to Amity Park? **You’re **the superhero.”

Something occurred to Dani then; not a lot of ghosts knew that Vlad was a half ghost too. Besides Skulker, Desiree, and possibly Walker, no one was aware of the fact that Vlad Plasmius and Vlad Masters were the same person.

Hell, they probably didn’t even know who Vlad Masters was.

Should she tell Johnny? It wasn’t her secret to tell, and Dani was sure that Vlad enjoyed keeping his human life and his ghost life separate.

“He’s my One and Only---where-ever I go, he goes,” she explicated.

“Heh, ain’t that the truth,” the ghostly biker said knowingly and with a smile. “Well damn, who am I to stand between two lovebirds? Sure, I’ll help you find your man.”

Dan’s face lit up. “Thank you, Johnny! I owe you one!”

“You’re damn right you do. I could get obliterated for this.”

“Wait, seriously?” the teenager asked, her smile fading.

“Duh. Didn’t you see those guards back there? Staging a breakout is dangerous business. If you’re caught trying to escape or helping someone else escape, you’re carted off to the Execution Chamber.”

“Execution Chamber?!”

“Or just the Chamber.”

_Holy crap, I didn’t realize it was **this **serious! What the hell am I gonna do?? _

She could get killed over this, or worst yet, get Johnny and **Vlad **killed over this!

“Walker doesn’t fuck around. You play by his rules or you’re finished.”

“Johnny,” Dani started, grabbing his shirt with anxious hands. “You have to help me! You have to help me figure this out!”

“Calm down, I already said I was, didn’t I? I’ll get you and your boyfriend out of here, but on one condition.”

Dani furrowed her brow. “Let me guess: you’re coming with us.”

“Damn right.”

She let go of his shirt. “That’s fine by me. Besides, I bet you wanna see Kitty.”

Johnny crossed his arms. “Of course I do. She’s my---”

“One and Only?”

“Well, I was gonna say ‘my baby girl’, but that’s true too.”

The heroine giggled. “You know, I was right about you.”

“Huh?” he vocalized with a suspicious look.

“Kitty was really upset with you a while back, but I told her that you loved her more than anything or anyone.”

“I remember that,” he stated. “Kitty came running up to me and smacked me with her purse, but then asked to hear my side of things. By the end of it, she was crying and apologizing for jumping to conclusions.”

“She said that you were staring at other girls,” Dani recalled. “But at the time I assumed that there was more to it than that. So…?”

“Of course there was more to it! I was only looking at them thinking that Kitty would look better in their outfits than they did!”

“Really?” the ghost girl inquired, cocking her head to the side.

“Sure. Hell, I was even thinking of buying her a nice new dress…” he pouted, clearly still butt hurt after all this time.

It made Dani laugh. “You really love her, don’t you?” she teased.

“Hello? I used your sister to try and get her back. Of course I love her!”

“Good to know that you’re a giant softy,” the heroine said before looking at the other prison buildings. “So, on the way to the Mess Hall, we passed the Male Ward and Administration, but what are those other buildings?”

“Solitary and the Chamber. See? The one behind the Male Ward is Solitary and the one at the very back is the Chamber,” Johnny pointed out, indicating with his index finger.

“But I thought the Chamber would’ve been smaller. That thing looks like a tower.”

“Its supposed to look that way. Scares people into submission. Walker gets off on breaking the prisoners down until they’ll do whatever he says.”

“Guy’s a fricking creep,” the half ghost stated, venom behind her words.

“You think that’s bad? Wait till you’ve seen how he deals with people in Solitary.”

She looked at him. “Should I even ask?”

“Might as well. You’ll find out for yourself anyway.”

“Why’s that?”

“‘Cause that’s where your boyfriend is being kept.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, it is done! Like I mentioned, I plan to have another story up by or on Christmas, so stay tuned for that!

“What do you mean she’s missing?” the goth asked, his voice emanating from Tucker’s PDA.

“I told you, she was supposed to come over 2 hours ago but never showed,” the geek explained. “This is serious, Sam. I think Dani might be in trouble.”

“O.K., hold on, let me think,” he responded, his tone insistent.

“We don’t have time for thinking!”

“So, Dani was in the Ghost Zone when you called her, and she hung up on you?”

“Yeah, she said that Vlad was there and she was gonna call me back.”

“Vlad was there?”

“Apparently.”

“Jesus,” the rebel exhaled in exasperation. “Why is it that whenever he’s around, Dani always ends up in danger?”

Tucker rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake, would you let it go? Now is not the time for your daily Vlad-bashing. And besides, he’s helped us save her once or twice now.”

“One or two good deeds doesn’t make someone a nice person.”

“Right, ‘cause that’s what this is about,” the computer geek rebuked, glaring at the sidewalk. As soon as it was clear something was wrong, Tucker bolted from her house and ran to Fenton Works at fast as she could. It only occurred to her to call Sam once she was already at the residence.

“He’s as shady as they come,” the nonconformist replied. “Sooner or later, Dani will realize it for herself.”

“And then what? She’ll come running to you, broken hearted and telling you that she was wrong---that she shouldn’t have dumped you for him?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re making it sound like I want her to get hurt.”

“You don’t exactly demonstrate otherwise,” Tucker remarked as she leaned against the brick.

“Let’s get one thing straight; Dani is one of my best friends, and if being with someone else makes her happy, then I’m happy for her. But if I think the person she loves is rotten, I’m going to say so.”

“She never asked for your opinion, you moron! And Vlad isn’t rotten! If anything, you’re the one who’s rotten!”

“Excuse me?”

“All this talk about wanting Dani to be happy, even if it’s with someone else---it all goes out the window the minute Vlad is mentioned! You’ve hated the man ever since we met him, and it’s all because you’re jealous of him! You can’t abide the fact that you lost to him---no---that you lost at all!”

There was silence on the other end, prompting Tucker to go further.

“And another thing; do you really think that if Dani realized that he’s ‘rotten’, she’ll automatically run to you---especially after all the times you’ve insulted, belittled, and disregarded Vlad? She may end up broken hearted, but he’s her One and Only, which means she could never love anyone else anyway! And frankly, if you ask me, he’s not going to hurt her---he loves her too much to do that! He cares about her as much as she cares about him. Face it Sam, they belong together---they are meant to be together!”

Once again, silence greeted her ears. The geek pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her brow marked with extreme annoyance, but also something else. How was she any different? She was also jealous, hence why she was so emotional about all this. Sure, Sam’s constant ridicule of Vlad was bothersome, but nothing to blow up at. In truth, she was insanely jealous that Sam cared so much for Dani, so much that he wouldn’t hesitate to call out possible threats to her and her heart. In his eyes, Vlad was one such threat, so of course he wanted her to get out of a relationship with him.

Still, did he have to be so harsh about it? Didn’t he know much it was hurting Dani?

Didn’t he know how much it was hurting her?

Tucker swallowed. The goth still hadn’t replied.

“So…yeah…”

He hadn’t hung up, so he was clearly still on the line. Was he still listening, or did he put his phone down to make her think he was still listening?

“Hey, you better not be messing with me!”

“I’m not,” the rebel teen replied curtly.

“Then why didn’t you respond?”

“What do you want me to say? You’ve got me all figured out.”

“Wait…really?”

“I hate him. I hate Vlad. I hate him for taking Dani away. I hate him for sweeping her off her feet before I even realized I liked her. I hate him for being ‘Mr. Perfect’ in her eyes. I hate him for loving her as much as I do.”

“So, then…?”

“But apart from all of that, I know he’s no good. From the day we meet him, I’ve had a bad feeling about him. You can chalk it up to my hatred and jealousy, but I’m telling you, there’s something not right about that guy.”

Tucker placed her foot against the brick behind her. She had no idea where this “bad feeling” came from. As far as she was concerned, Vlad had been the perfect gentleman. He never did anything to warrant this level of suspicion.

Maybe Sam was still salty about the whole Desiree thing---how Vlad dragged him around like a ragdoll?

“I want Dani to be happy, and at the end of the day I know Vlad can’t make her happy.”

Tucker sighed.

“I know you and she think he’s the best thing since solar panels, but Vlad is dangerous. I don’t want her to get hurt---or worse---because of him. Is that so wrong?”

The techno geek relaxed her shoulders, feeling defeated. There was nothing she could say to change his mind, nothing she could do to convince him he was just being paranoid.

There was nothing she could do to make him forget about Dani.

“No…no, it’s not wrong.”

“Tucker, I’m sorry if I irritate you and Dani, but I’m only trying to look out for her, and its frustrating when no one understands that.”

“Yeah…I guess it would be.”

“Look, we can sort all this out later,” the goth suggested. “But first we need to find out what happened to Dani.”

“Yeah, I’m already at her house.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m just down the street.”

Tucker looked up and saw the rebel teen dashing toward her. With the sun at his back and a look of determination upon his face, he looked like a knight in shining armor.

Tucker couldn’t help but smile.

He just looked so cool.

“What are you waiting for? Get to the lab!” he yelled as he neared.

“Roger that, Captain Dummy,” the geek muttered before turning and running up the front steps. The door was unlocked, most likely Jack’s doing, and the teens raced inside and bolted down to the lab. They looked around until they saw the Specter Speeder.

They gazed at each other and smirked.

“Feel the need for speed?” the computer whiz asked.

“I’m feeling it. Wanna drive?”

“Do I!”

They hopped in, strapped themselves in, and just as Tucker grabbed the wheel a look of realization came upon Sam’s face.

“Wait, do you even know where Dani was when she called you?”

“In the Ghost Zone,” the computer geek replied bluntly.

“Yeah, I know that, but where in the Ghost Zone?”

“Don’t worry Sam, this baby can track Dani’s ecto-signature.”

“Not be my knowledge,” the nonconformist corrected.

“Really?”

Sam hopped back out. “No, but there’s something in here that does.”

He ran over to the table on the wall across from them and retrieved the Booo-merang.

“That thing?” Tucker asked.

“Yes, this thing,” Sam replied with a grin before hopping back into the Specter Speeder. “Don’t you remember? Dani’s parents designed it to track whatever ecto-signaure its tuned into, and the first ghost it encountered was---”

“Dani!”

“Exactly.”

The goth turned the device on and threw it out the side of the Specter Speeder. Immediately, it flew into the portal.

“Let’s go!” the rebel teen exclaimed.

“Don’t worry Dani and Vlad, we’re on the way!” the techno whiz proclaimed as she started up the Specter Speeder. Then, with a roar of the rockets, they blasted into the Ghost Zone.

**************

The room was quite dark, the only source of light was the harsh glow of the device that suspended the older man off the floor. He was situated into a star-shaped position, his limbs held in place by thick cuffs that almost extended to his torso. It was impossible to blast his way out or even duplicate his form. In fact, it was impossible to do much of anything; in the Ghost Zone Prison, ghosts were unable to use their powers. Despite this, Vlad knew that he could escape if his timing was right, but once he was placed in Solitary, it was over. Stuck in this apparatus, he was incapable of using his powers or even transforming back into human form.

It was like Walker had read his mind.

But surely that wasn’t possible---just a coincidence.

He hadn’t been in here long, merely a few hours, but it already felt like years. His little badger was in the Prison somewhere, and he couldn’t get to her. He shivered at what she may be enduring, what she may be forced to contend with. He worried that she would be set upon by the other inmates, or that she would be locked in her cell or force-fed ectoplasm.

Even in ghost form, he couldn’t stomach the stuff, meaning Dani probably couldn’t either.

The list of concerns was endless. He just had to get out of there, by any means necessary.

_I have to get back to her. Lord knows what Walker has planned for her. _

As if on cue, the door to his solitary cell opened, causing him to shut one eye. Walker strode into the cell, that almost permeant frown of his perfectly in place.

“I gotta admit, Plasmius, you’re disappointing me,” the ghostly warden said plainly. “I expected more of a fight for you.”

“I thought you enjoyed making others submit,” the billionaire replied with a cocky smirk.

“For you, Plasmius, I’ll make an exception.”

“Oh, I feel so special.”

“You should. This entire cell was prepared with you in mind. For the last 10 years, I’ve been waiting to toss you in here and throw away the key.”

“Sounds like you could use a hobby, my friend,” the business mogul alluded in a mocking fashion “Might I suggest golf?”

“Now you’re finally where you belong,” Walker said firmly, leaning closer to the man’s face. “Now you’re finally mine.”

“Say that as many times as you need to, it won’t make a difference. It’s only a matter of time before I abscond from this place.”

“Planning to escape? That’s gonna buy you a one-way trip to the Chamber.”

“That’s only if you catch someone trying to escape, not planning one.”

“Perhaps, but for you, Plasmius, I’ll make an exception.”

The older half ghost scowled.

“So don’t you forget it,” Walker warned, pointing a finger in Vlad’s face.

Now it was clear. The regular rules of the Prison didn’t apply here; Vlad was Walker’s special prisoner.

“Where is Danielle?”

Walker leaned away from the billionaire. “Why does it matter?”

“Where is she?”

The ghostly warden turned his back to Vlad.

“Don’t worry, the little girl is fine. I believe she’s becoming acquainted with the other inmates as we speak.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Without looking at the older man, Walker responded: “It doesn’t matter where she is. She’s behind my walls, and that is where she will stay.”

“Not on your afterlife,” Plasmius stated with venom in his tone.

“Threatening me, now?” Walker asked as he looked over his shoulder. “Have you forgotten already?”

“Lay a finger on her and you’ll regret it for the last few seconds of your existence.”

Walker studied the older half ghost. It looked like he was thinking about something---perhaps Vlad’s warning? Walker was a hard ghost to intimidate; in fact, the last time someone managed to intimidate him was 10 years ago.

“You don’t take being defeated well,” the ghostly warden observed, walking over to a control panel.

“I haven’t been defeated.”

“You don’t tolerate failure, so when you come face to face with it, you attempt to rearrange it in your mind---justify it as nothing more than a set-back.”

“Well, if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black,” Vlad said with a grin and a raised eyebrow. “If you intend to psycho-analyze me, then you’d better be prepared to have the same done to you.”

Walker looked back at Vlad. “It seems you still haven’t learned you’re place.”

The ghostly warden pulled down a lever, and in a matter of seconds powerful volts of electricity shot through the billionaire. He cried out, but refused to give in. He grunted and bit his lip, causing it to bleed green.

“As strong a will as ever,” Walker commented as he pulled the lever up.

“You expected more of a fight from me,” Vlad reminded, once again wearing a cocky grin. “And I’d hate to disappoint you again.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

Walker pulled the lever back down and the pain returned in full. The bolts felt like fire under his skin and his body twitched in anguish. The feeling was akin to thousands of tiny needles stabbing into his flesh over and over again.

And those needles were also on fire.

It was enough to make any other ghost fold, but not Vlad.

He needed his little badger. His little badger needed him. One way or another, he was going to bust them out of here, and Walker was going to pay for this.

All of it.

***************

The ghost girl lay on her cot, once again staring at the roof of her cell but not really seeing it. After the rioting had stopped in the Mess Hall, she and Johnny were escorted back to their cells. When Ember saw her, she looked absolutely murderous.

It actually made Dani grin.

Johnny told her that they would talk again during recreation, which was the time before lights out when the prisoners could hang out in the yard.

The heroine didn’t know when that was, but she hoped it was soon. Of course, given the bruhaha in the Mess Hall, Dani didn’t put it past Walker to cancel it for the evening.

But she had to get back home! She couldn’t be missing for an entire day.

Her parents would be distraught.

The young girl rolled on her side, deep in thought. If Johnny knew how to get into Solitary without being sent there, that would be a step in the right direction. Not being able to stay invisible inside the buildings posed a big problem, but there had to be a work around.

Then again, if there was, why hadn’t Johnny used it to escape on his own?

It’s too risky. If he was caught, he could be killed---er---obliterated. He knows that Kitty would be devastated if that happened.

He was keeping himself alive for her, not doing anything to attract too much attention. Dani could admire him for that.

Meanwhile, what was Vlad up to? He wasn’t the kind of man that wouldn’t draw attention to himself. Hell, it was hard not to pay attention him.

Plus, he was probably doing everything he could to get to her. Dani knew that Vlad was probably desperate to get back to her, to see her again, to make sure she was safe.

But if his efforts cost him his life…

_No! Vlad can’t risk his life like that! _

Dani sat up, her stomach full of unease and her heart beginning to ache.

_Vlad, please, don’t do anything that will get you killed! I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you! _

Tears licked at the corners of her eyes, but she rubbed them away. She had to stay strong. She had to believe that Vlad was O.K., that they were going to get out of this in one piece. Vlad was many things, but a fool wasn’t one of them. He would stay alive until she reached him.

Wouldn’t he?

_Yes he would!_

Suddenly, that same alarm from earlier went off. The cell doors opened, with Dani’s neighbors filed out just as before. She followed suit and saw the same guards from before at the entrance to the block. The one in the middle announced that it was recreation time and not but a second after they were walking, single file, out to the yard. Once outside, Dani looked at the Male Ward and saw three other guards leading two lines of ghosts into the yard as well. As soon as she spotted Johnny, she flew over to him. The guards went about their business and the other prisoners busied themselves with socializing.

“Johnny, hey!” Dani greeted with a smile.

“What’s with that? You’re acting like we’re old friends or something,” the ghostly bad boy teased. “Or that we’re not in a fucking prison.”

“So what?” the girl defended.

“Heh, I can see why Kitty likes you, but never mind that,” he said. “You wanna get your boyfriend an’ bust outta here, right?”

“Definitely.”

“O.K., so, I know that Solitary is heavy guarded, since that’s where the worst of the worst are kept.”

“And those that cause trouble in the prison,” Dani added.

“Right. But I also happen to know that there’s a blind spot towards the back of the building; the closest guard towers can’t see anything that happens in that area.”

“So, they won’t see anyone sneaking around there?”

“Uh huh, but there’s a problem.”

“What?”

“Getting over there is another matter. The Eastern Tower can easily see someone waltzing over to the blind spot.”

“O.K., so what we need is a distraction.”

“Sure, but say we get in Solitary, what then?”

“Hey, you’re the one who’s been here longer,” the heroine pointed out.

“True, but I’ve never been in Solitary.”

Dani crossed her arms. “So that means you don’t know the layout of the place.”

“Pretty much.”

Well, crud.

“Big whoop, we’ll just figure it out,” Dani reasoned.

“You sound pretty confident. Did you forget that we could be fried for this?”

“Of course I didn’t forget,” the girl said with a furrowed brow. “But what else can we do? Neither of us knows the layout of Solitary, so we’ll just have to wing it and hope for the best.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

The heroine gazed at what she assumed was the Eastern Tower. Two guards paced back and forth, each of them holding an electrified baton.

“We’ll need a distraction that can handle those guys first. We’ll worry about what to do in Solitary once we get in there,” she stated.

“Watcha thinkin’? Some kind of prison riot?”

Dani looked back at Johnny. “Another one?”

“The one in the Mess Hall was nothing. I’ve seen far worse.”

“Maybe,” the half ghost thought out loud. “But if we started a riot in the yard, wouldn’t Walker notice? He’d be on high alert and all the Prison buildings would go under some kind of lockdown.”

“Hmm, good point,” Johnny commented.

“No, what we need is something a bit more subtle,” the girl concluded, looking back up at the guard tower. “We can use our powers out here, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“So, we could go invisible, knock those guys out, and sneak into Solitary like church mice,” the teenager formulated.

“Sure, but what happens when they wake up? We’ll end up with the same problem, even if it’ll buy us a few minutes.”

“Yeah, but if there was a way to keep them unconscious…” the ghost girl once again thought out loud.

“You mean suppression gas?”

The girl looked puzzled. “Huh?”

“Suppression gas. Walker uses it on the more unruly inmates.”

“Wait…he uses gas to keep some ghosts sedated?” Dani asked.

“Yeah, but frankly, he’s pretty generous with the term ‘unruly’. If you so much as look at him wrong, he’ll say your behavior was unacceptable and put you under.”

“God…” the girl murmured.

“I thought you knew by now what the guy was like?”

I did, but still, that’s just cruel. Forcing people to be unconscious just because they fit your definition of “unruly”---it’s just plain wrong.

Did Vlad fit the bill for such behavior?

“O.K., so we gotta get our hands on some suppression gas, sing the guards a lullaby, sneak into Solitary, and find your boyfriend and bust him out without being seen,” Johnny summarized, putting a hand on his hip.

“That about sums it up.”

“And then we gotta get ourselves out,” he added, looking off into the distance. “This ain’t gonna be an easy job.”

“No, but we can do this,” Dani said, determination visible in her features.

“No shit. I’m not about to stay in this hell hole for the next 200 years.”

“Is that how long your sentence is?”

“Well, duh,” the ghostly biker said with an eye roll. “What, you think I just pulled a random number out of my ass?”

“O.K. O.K., sheesh,” Dani appeased. “So, about that suppression gas…?”

“Yeah, so, I’ve heard that it’s kept in Administration, near Walker’s office. Problem is, you can’t get to it---or anything else in the Armory---without a keycard.”

“What is this, a video game?” the half ghost asked in annoyance.

“The worst one I’ve ever played.”

**************

Recreation lasted fifty minutes, and the Female Ward was the furthest building from Administration, meaning that now was the time. Dani had to get out of the Prison ASAP, so there was no time for dilly-dallying.

She and Johnny walked around the yard, observing the other prisoners and keeping close eyes on the many guards in the towers and by the building entrances. As they walked, Johnny told Dani that the one way to get into Administration was if you worked in there as clerk or laundry person. Dani knew there was no way in hell Walker would give her a job in the prison, and apparently Johnny was just as undesirable.

He was on laundry duty once. It didn’t work out.

She was curious, so she decided to ask him about this at a later date.

For now, she had to come up with another way to get into Administration without attracting too much attention.

“I guess going invisible and sneaking in is out of the question?”

“Are you kiddin’? You’d have better luck get Skulker to tap dance then getting in there,” the ghostly bad boy informed.

“Oh yeah?” the girl asked, feeling uneasy.

“Administration has the strictest patrols and the best security---well, other than Solitary. Hell, at this point, you’d be better off charging into Solitary screaming at the top of your lungs.”

There had to be another way; no defense was without its flaws. If she could outwit the guards somehow, or convince Walker to give her a job that was, maybe, far far away from him?

Unlikely.

What would Vlad do in her place? He would probably have a plan by now.

No, he would already be carrying out that plan.

_Vlad, I hope you’re safe. _

She had to stay focused. Getting the suppression gas took top priority---then she could worry about Vlad.

“We could scale the building,” Johnny suggested. “I know that the Armory is on the third floor.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve been in there before---Administration, I mean. I walked past it many times when I was on laundry duty.”

“Oh yeah.”

“It’s at the back of the building, right above the generator.”

Dani glanced at the structure and saw said generator behind a tall, razor-wired fence.

“Flying up there isn’t a problem though, if you don’t mind being caught.”

“Argh, why is this so complicated?” the girl whined.

“Uh, did you forget where you were?”

_O.K., so the Armory is where the gas is kept, which is on the third floor, and in order to get into it you need a keycard. One top of that, only certain ghosts can get into the building, and if we try to fly up to the third floor, we’ll be seen by the guards in the North Tower. _

_Fan-flipping-tastic._

“If this seems like too much trouble, we can figure something else out,” Johnny proposed.

“Like?”

“I can brain the guards in the East Tower while you run inside Solitary and find your boyfriend.”

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Dani asked, her tone exasperated.

“‘Cause I figured you’d poo-poo the idea, since I’d be putting myself at risk.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. He knew that she wouldn’t want him to put himself in unnecessary danger and sitting by a couple of unconscious guards in a guard tower would definitely put him in unnecessary danger.

Although, this whole operation was dangerous, and in the end, he was in no less danger than she was.

“Which would you rather go with?” Dani asked.

“I’m partial to braining myself, but I couldn’t guarantee you’re safely; if I was with you in Solitary, I’d be able to help out.”

“And you’d be at risk too. You have to stay out of trouble so you can get back to Kitty,” the ghost girl reminded him.

“This whole thing is gonna be trouble, kid,” Johnny stated as he spread his arms out. “Attempted escape means obliteration if you’re caught, so there’s no point in trying to sugar coat it.”

_It’s a risk either way. _

“Even so, I’m not going to let you get killed,” Dani proclaimed. “We’re gonna do this with as subtly as we can.”

“Have it your way,” the ghostly bad boy said with a shrug.

The heroine looked back up at the Administration building. Getting in the usual way was out of the question, and scaling the building was probably not the best idea either. The razor-wired fence prevented anyone from hopping onto the generator and climbing through the second story window just above it, but nothing was stopping someone from digging their way under it. If one could get behind the fence, they could slip behind the generator and evade the view of the North Tower guards.

But once one was behind the generator, what then?

Dani narrowed her eyes and walked over to the fence. As she neared, so took a slight left to get a better look behind in the generator, but did so nonchalantly as to not raise suspicion. Johnny followed, a puzzled look on his face.

“What’re you doing?”

“I’m thinking…”

The girl noticed a gap between the wall and the generator, big enough to hide someone but that was about it. There weren’t any doors or even a basement window to crawl through.

“Damn,” she muttered.

“What did you think you were gonna find?”

“It doesn’t matter,” the girl said as she crossed her arms. “Is there really no other way into Administration?”

“Not really,” the ghostly bad boy said. “Unless you get on Walker’s good side and he gives you a job, there’s no way you’re getting in there.”

The heroine was silent for a moment before a look a resolution came across her face.

“O.K. then.”

“What?”

“I gotta get Walker to give me a job.”

“How the hell are you gonna swing that?” Johnny 13 inquired with an amused smirk.

“I don’t know…maybe I can appeal to him somehow---get him to think I’m not a problem.”

“What, like, pretend you’re some docile little girl who he’s already broken?”

Then, a look of realization spread across Dani’s face.

“Yeah, that’s it!”

“What?”

“I know how to get us into Administration!” the ghost girl chirped as a siren went off. Both she and Johnny looked at the quad and saw guards descending upon the other inmates.

“Recreation is over,” the ghostly biker observed.

“I’m not out of time yet,” the half ghost said with a smirk. “I just need to play my cards right…”

A couple of guards approached the two then, with one of them grabbing Johnny by the forearm.

“Time to go, prisoner,” he said in a gruff tone.

The ghostly bad boy looked at Dani who merely nodded. She mouthed “I got this” and gave a quick smile before adopting a downtrodden expression. The other guard took the heroine by her shoulder and narrowed his red eyes at her.

“Let’s go, ghost girl,” he ordered.

“O.K.,” she replied, not making eye contact. Her tone was timid and her voice even shook, making the guard’s eyebrow go up. For a couple of seconds, he looked at her suspiciously, but he must’ve decided that she wasn’t posing a threat because he shrugged and lead her back to the Female Ward.

Johnny smirked as they left. It looked like the ghost girl was on top of this.

Once Dani was back inside her cell, she refused to look at her escort and instead stared at the floor. She sat on her cot, eyes forlorn and her head hanging low. Out of the corner of her vision, she noticed the guard was still watching her. Back in the yard, she realized that her reputation would make the guards wary of her, and Walker probably already warned them anyway. The ghostly warden had, most likely, told the guards to exercise caution with regard to her but to also do whatever it took to break her, like shoving her needlessly and allowing the prisoners to gang up on her.

Well, if Walker wanted a broken Dani Phantom, then he was going to get one.

The guard at her cell door still hadn’t left yet, and even appeared to be studying her. His head tilted to the side and his eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say a word. Dani, for her part, made sure to look as depressed as possible.

After what felt like hours (but was really a few minutes), the guard opened her cell door and grabbed Dani by the wrist. Still, she refused to look at him. Rather, she let herself go limp and allowed her head to swing a bit. The lack of effort on her part surprised the guard and he nearly dropped her. The heroine imaged that he looked very confused right about now.

“Hmph, you’re even weaker than we thought,” he huffed. She could just hear the smirk. “Not even a day in and you’re already giving in? Pathetic.”

_And you’re even dumber than I thought. _

The guard threw her to the floor and turned his back to her. He reached for his belt and pulled out his walkie talkie. As he radioed for what seemed like his superior, Dani finally looked up at him. Her eyes burned green, but she fought the urge to tackle him to the ground. The concrete floor was quite unforgiving and didn’t give any kind of support when she landed on it. She watched the guard’s smirk get wider as he talked to his radio, telling the ghost on the other end that the ghost girl must’ve been missing her boyfriend pretty badly and was already a miserable shell.

The half ghost wanted to blast this guy into next week but refrained. After all, such retaliation would ruin everything.

When he hung up, he grabbed Dani’s wrist again and pulled her to her feet.

“On your feet, ghost girl,” he ordered. “Walker would like to see you.”

*************

Dani stood in front of Walker’s desk, her gaze still upon the floor. The office wasn’t quite what she had expected, for it looked rather normal for a ghostly prison warden: the walls were white, as was the floor, and furniture such as the desk and a couple of chairs were placed in the center of the room, with the desk in front of two large windows. The two chairs were behind her and looked to be made out of wood, like the desk. There were also filing cabinets all around the office, lined against each wall and grey in color.

Walker himself was sitting at the desk, leaning on his elbows and hiding his lips behind intertwined fingers. He was studying her rather intently. His gaze felt similar to one of the billionaire’s oppressive stares, but it was nowhere as intimidating. However, the girl did her best to play the part; she made sure to evade his gaze and to only look him in the eye when he told her to.

Which he hadn’t yet. In fact, he hadn’t said a word since the guard left the room five minutes ago.

Dani looked at the ghostly authoritarian through her lashes, attempting to appear delicate. She wanted to give the impression that she was afraid, that she was at his mercy.

Finally, after minutes of strenuous silence, Walker regarded her.

“I hear you made quite the ruckus in the Mess Hall earlier this evening,” he said, his voice void of any emotion.

She did not respond.

“It sounds like the other ghosts aren’t too fond of you, though it isn’t hard to imagine why.”

She shifted awkwardly.

“They blame you for their defeats, for their incompetence. They blame you for sending them in here, which completely discredits me and my men,” he stated as he narrowed his eyes. “They fail to understand why they are in here in the first place. But you, you seem to understand your situation pretty well. Surrounded by enemies, with no one to protect or help you---it must be rather painful.”

Dani felt her eye twitch.

“However, that conclusion contradicts something, doesn’t it? According to one of the guards in the North Tower, you were acting all buddy-buddy with that miscreant Johnny 13.”

Uh oh.

“Now, why would you suddenly start acting like a kicked puppy dog only after you spent your recreation time with the likes of Johnny 13?”

What could she do, what could she say? She had to maintain her feigned meekness long enough to get Walker’s guard down.

“I…” she began timidly. “I thought Johnny was going to help me save Vlad, but he was just messing with me.”

She hated casting the ghostly bad boy in the wrong light, but she hoped it would get Walker off both of their backs.

“You thought he was going to help you rescue you him?” Walker questioned as he cocked his head.

“Mm hmm…but…but he just mocked me, saying that Vlad was probably dead by now…that there was no way you’d let him live…and I…”

Tears licked at the corners of her eyes and Dani let them fall. She knew the billionaire was still alive, since Walker hadn’t come to her to gloat. None the less, she had to play the game. The young girl had to do whatever it took to levee Walker’s suspicion.

The ghostly warden’s eyebrows rose but his expression was still emotionless. Rather, he seemed mildly surprised by her display. Perhaps he felt the same way the guard did, or maybe he was surprised that she believed something that was blatantly untrue.

“Little miss, that criminal is---”

Dani felt her blood boil but had to suppress her anger. She did so by clenching her fist behind the desk and out of Walker’s line of sight. Her other hand came up to her mouth as she allowed herself to cry.

She even trembled for good measure.

Now Walker looked stunned; his eyes were wide and his lips parted as he lifted his head. Dani wasn’t sure what he looked like through her tears, but she could make out this slight movement.

Good, now he was invested.

“V-vlad can’t be…” she said, knowing that talking anymore would over-sell it.

The ghostly warden sat up straight and set his still interlaced fingers on the desk.

“Is he really that important to you that you would be reduced to this?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Instead of replying, the heroine cried even more, allowing her knees to give way and send her down in the chair behind her. She wept into her hands, doing her best to not overdo it.

She heard the sound of wood scraping against the floor and then some footsteps. Then, nearly shocking her out of her act, Dain felt a cold hand on her shoulder. Against her better judgment, she looked up. Meeting her gaze was that of Walker’s, who’s eyes bore a look of pity.

Pity? Was he even capable?

Well, it sure looked a lot like pity.

“How sad,” he said, his tone gentle. “that one so young could be taken advantage off like this.”

_Wait, what?_

“Though your efforts encroached upon mine, I must admit that I was impressed with you, little miss. I admired your resolve whenever you faced any of the Ghost Zone’s malefactors. I held you in a certain regard, shall we say.”

_So, he hated me for punishing ghosts in his place, but he also liked me because I punished ghosts? _

Well, the ones that caused trouble, anyway.

“But when I found you guilty of harboring a fugitive like Vlad Plasmius, I was taken aback. I became frustrated with myself, since I had in avertedly put you on a pedestal. And now I see that you and I are the same.”

_Say what? _

“You held Plasmius on a pedestal as well, but upon learning the truth, your illusion of him was shattered, leaving you in deniable and therefore upset about his supposed demise.”

_I knew it! I knew Vlad was still alive! _

_Wait, but if he’s admitting that he’s still alive, then does that mean he trusts me a little, now? _

She had to admit, this was going a bit differently than she thought. She assumed Walker would see right through her.

But then again, maybe he was.

She had put Vlad on a pedestal. She knew deep down that he was capable of bad things, and she was able to admit it to herself, but she refused to acknowledge this completely. She refused to believe that the older man had done even worse in the past, but now that she knew he was responsible for the obliteration of twelve ghosts 10 years ago, there was no denying it now.

She was shocked, she was in disbelief, but there was no point in ignoring the truth.

So maybe…she and Walker **were** the same.

No, not the same---just---similar.

She hated even thinking that.

“It’s a shame to see one so strong knocked down a peg or two simply because of something so trivial,” he said sympathetically, perhaps alluding to himself as well.

Dani looked back at the floor and sniffed. It annoyed her that even though he was being fooled by her act, he could still see into her so clearly. But, for the sake of her, Johnny, and Vlad, it would be beneficial to run with this. The heroine reasoned that this was a blessing too---Walker had unknowingly given her a way levee his guard.

“I feel like such an idiot,” she lamented. “But I can’t stop caring about him.”

“That’s the sickness, though isn’t it?”

“I thought for sure he was my One and Only, but…”

“There’s no such thing, little miss,” Walker stated, his grip in her shoulder tightening slightly. “It’s simply a fairytale that lonely ghosts tell each other to make the millenniums go by faster.”

Dani hating lying like this, because she felt like she was betraying her heart. But, if I meant getting them all out of here, it would be worth it.

After all, she was willing to do whatever it took.

“I just…” she began before sniffling. “I just don’t know anything anymore…I was so sure that he…”

Walker sighed and kneeled down next to her, meeting her at her eye level.

“Plasmius is a snake, a viper---he uses anything and anyone to get what he wants. You just happened to be roped in by his manipulation.”

The half ghost heroine clenched her fist out of his view.

“You think so?”

“Believe me, little miss, I know my fair share of dubious scoundrels, and Vlad Plasmius is the worst among them.”

“Is he…” she started before swallowing. “Is he really that bad?”

“Yes.”

“Then…then I shouldn’t trust him, right?” Was she going too far? Even if she was trying to gain Walker’s trust, was this really O.K.? She didn’t actually feel this way about Vlad, so was it O.K. to act like she did?

“No,” the ghostly authoritarian began, his tone reassuring. “He’s a lion in sheep’s clothing, little miss.”

Dani observed Walker’s face. His expression appeared to be kind, which was something she did not expect. His eyes weren’t so harsh, and his mouth was not sporting a frown or a scowl of any kind.

It was honestly surprising. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.

“You’re a victim of a supreme ego, but even that cannot excuse your crimes.”

Well, so much for that.

“In light of this recent development, however, I am willing to make an exception.”

The ghost girl blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been taken advantage of---a victim of a sociopathic mind. And since this is your first offense, I am willing to lessen your sentence.”

Dani’s face lit up. “Wait, really?”

“That’s right,” the ghostly authoritarian started as he stood up straight and grinned. “I’m not an unreasonable ghost, young miss. Justice may be blind, but I can and do make exceptions when the need calls for it. The usual sentence for harboring a fugitive is 50 to 100 years, but I will lessen yours from 100 years to 70.”

“70?!” the girl cried, standing up in disbelief.

Oops.

“Did you think you were only in here for 50? For harboring a monster like Vlad Plasmius, it only makes sense to lock you up for a century…or do you beg to differ?”

The way he worded that question seemed to indicate a sliver of suspicion. Had he caught on to her?

“N-no…” the heroine said, looking back down at the floor. “I’m sorry, I was just a little shocked.”

Walker rose an eyebrow. “It’s not all that shocking. Every ghost in this ethereal plane knows the rules.”

“Well, not me…” she admitted.

Funny enough, this was probably the only truth the half ghost has told in the last few minutes.

“Ah yes, because you’re a half ghost,” the ghostly warden noted. “You spend a majority of your time in the human world.”

The young girl looked back up at Walker. He wasn’t grinning anymore but his face didn’t show any signs of malice or wrath.

_Good, now if I can keep this up, I may be able to get Walker to give me job here in the building. _

“So now, little miss,” he began before walking over to the door and looking over his shoulder. “I trust that you will make good use of your time here.”

“Oh, uh yes! Yes, I don’t want to be a victim of a ‘sociopathic mind’ again,” she replied, offering a small smile and folding her arms in front of her so they formed a V-shape.

“Glad to hear it. Now, I have another affair to see to in Solitary, so if you don’t mind…” he said as he walked over to the door to his office and opened it, followed by a gesture of his arm.

“Oh, uh…”

_Hold on a minute, I still need to talk to you!_

“If you please,” he insisted. “I am a very busy ghost.”

Dani responded with a nod. She walked to the door and took another look at the ghostly warden. He still appeared approachable, which was a good sign. Upon looking into the hallway, Dani didn’t see any guards to escort her back to her cell. Was she being trusted to go back herself, entirely unsupervised?

Had she gained Walker’s trust already?

“Wait out here for a few minutes. Someone will be coming by to take you back to your cell,” Walker explained as he stepped out into the hallway behind her.

“O.K.”

So much for that.

“If you’ll excuse me,” he said, just before vanishing as a white light. It was bright enough that Dani had to cover her eyes, but when the light was done glaring through her fingers, she opened her baby blues again.

Now she was completely alone.

_O.K., so he trusts me enough to have me wait for someone. I don’t know if the guards patrol in here, but its safe to assume they do_.

This meant that if she was quick about it, she could find the Armory that contained the suppression gas.

Screw her old plan---this was much faster!

The ghost girl fast walked down the hall, eyes darting from side to side. the Armory was above the generator, so she needed to find where that would be. Walker’s office was on the third floor, so it wasn’t too far away, which made this even better. The Administration building wasn’t large, interior wise, so the heroine figured that her target was only around the corner or down another corridor.

She reached the end of the hall, and there was only one way to go. Turning, she fast walked down this new hallway, feeling her stomach tingle with apprehension. It was pretty nerve-wracking; walking somewhere you weren’t supposed to.

After a few minutes of exploring the layout of the third floor, Dani finally spotted it---two large metal doors with a big red light above it and a key-panel to the immediate left of the doors.

“Jackpot!”

She jogged over to the vault with a smile, only for that smile to fade rather rapidly.

“Wait…I need a keycard to open it. Frick!”

Now what was she going to do? The success of this mission was riding on her getting that suppression gas, but she couldn’t exactly waltz up to a guard and ask for his keycard!

“O.K., I need to get creative…I just need to be able to---”

The sound of jackboots on hard wood cut her off. Startled, Dani realized that someone was approaching fast, and she needed a whole new plan. She couldn’t use her powers to go invisible, because a laser will just shoot her until she bleeds, and she couldn’t hide behind anything, because there was nothing to hide behind.

“Crap crap crap,” she whispered to herself, her tone panicked.

The footsteps got louder.

_Crap crap crap! _

In her frantic head-whipping, Dani noticed a vent directly above her. Without pause, she jumped as high as she could and managed to knock the opening of the vent with her palm. She did this two more times until the vent was open. Using just an ounce of her ability of fly, she launched herself into the vent just as a guard came around the corner. He stepped up to the vault, looked from side to side, and turned around, appearing rather puzzled. He scratched his head, which the heroine witnessed from her place in the vent. Was he the guard that had come to get her?

Time was clearly not on her side. With this in mind, Dani knew she had to get this guy’s keycard straight away. She dropped from the vent and landed on his shoulders.

“What in the Ghost Zone---?!”

She landed a swift punch to the top of his head and he went down, still and quiet. Dani fumbled around with his jacket until she heard a jingling sound. Reaching inside the guard’s breast pocket she touched what felt like keys. She pulled it out and sure enough, it was a set of keys with a green card attached to the ring.

“Bingo!”

Dani singled out the keycard and hovered it over the control panel, which had a red sensor bar. A quick BEEP went off and then the doors opened. With a look of awe, the ghost girl saw piles of weapons---which ranged from blasters to tasers---as well as countless 3-foot tall canisters with a green ghost painted on the front.

“Time to bust out of here,” the half ghost said with a smirk, one that just oozed with moxxy.

**************

Getting out of Administration wasn’t easy, especially with a rather heavy canister of suppression gas. Essentially, Dani had to chuck the container out the window and into the tiny side-yard with the generator. Then she waited for the guards in the North Tower to turn their backs, and when they did, she jumped down onto the ground. The heroine grabbed the canister and quickly flew over the razor wire and zipped to the Male Ward before anyone could blink. Johnny told her that his cell was on the ground floor, the closest one to the front door, so she located the window that was nearest to the entrance and hovered beside it.

“Johnny?”

The ghostly bad boy appeared at the barred window with a look of surprise.

“Kid? Holy shit! How did you get that?”

“I’ll explain later, but I need to get you out of here, first,” the half ghost said quietly.

“Right. If I had my shadow, it could dissolve these bars,” he commented under his breath.

“I’ve been wondering where it is.”

“It’s in Solitary.”

Dani grinned. “Oh, so you’re only helping me to help yourself, huh?”

Johnny grinned back. “No duh.”

They both chuckled. Johnny was a good guy under all that snark, and Dani could see why Kitty loved him so much.

She had to reunite the two, just as she had to reunite the billionaire and herself.

The half ghost heroine took hold of the bars and turned them intangible.

“Come on!” she urged.

Without wasting a beat, Johnny climbed through the window and the two flew over to the East Tower. Landing in the middle of the steps that lead to the deck, Johnny took the canister from the heroine and crept up the rest of the way. Dani followed behind, as silent as a mouse.

Once they reached the deck, Johnny sep the canister down and twisted the valve. Yellow mist spurted from the container and Johnny held the collar of his shirt over his mouth. He prompted Dani to do the same, which she did, but some it got up her nose and she felt a slight burning sensation in her nasal cavity. She tried not to cough all that loudly, but in the end it hardly mattered; within seconds, the three guards were hacking up a lung (if ghosts even had those), completely drowning the ghost girl out. Then, after another few seconds, the guards were down, snoring up a storm.

“Awesome,” Johnny muttered with his shirt still over his mouth. “They’ll be out for a good long while.”

“So, is it safe?” Dani asked after clearing her throat.

“Yeah, we should be good,” the ghostly biker said as he dropped his shirt and stood up.

He leapt over the side of the tower and flew down to the blind spot, with the heroine on his heels. From there, the two stuck low to the ground and approached the front door. There weren’t any guards patrolling the yard yet, at least, not where they were, so they had some time to think.

“O.K., so how to get in there,” Johnny pondered as he tapped his chin.

“I supposed going intangible would be out of the question,” the ghost girl assumed.

“If we were quick enough once we got inside, it could work,” he said as he looked Dani in the eye. “We would just have to be, ya know, real quick.”

“Well, when I found the Armory, I flew a little bit to avoid a guard, and no laser went off.”

“Sure, but how many seconds were you in the air?”

“Probably less than one,” the half ghost stated.

“Exactly.”

“Well, we could just go for it.”

“Go for it?” Johnny asked, an astonished grin on his face. “Jesus, you **would** be the One and Only of Plasmius.”

“So, what’s your point?” the girl pouted in defense.

“Forget it,” the ghostly bad boy said as he stood up. “We don’t have a lot time, so we’ll just have to hope there isn’t a guard right inside the door.”

“I’ll bet there isn’t,” Dani said in encouragement, earning her a chuckle in response.

The two turned intangible and ran straight inside. Though there were no guards, the sight that greeted their eyes was still rather unsettling; rows of compact cells lined the walls, which were jet black in color. The floor was made of steel, so it was cold to the touch, even through their shoes. Each cell only had a small, square window on the door, but it was hardly big enough to see adequately through. In fact, the only thing the inmates could see was what was directly in front of their cell door. Also, the feeling in the building was chilling, much like Walker’s glares or even one of his smiles.

“This is depressing,” Johnny said bluntly.

“No kidding,” Dani agreed, her tone a bit sad. Sending someone in here, to such a cold and isolating place, had to be hard even for a ghost. She couldn’t begin to imagine what being locked up in one of those cells was like, having no one to talk to and nowhere to adequately move for days, weeks, even months at a time.

The ghost girl surveyed the hall and found no one to speak of. If there were ghosts in the cells, they weren’t making any noise.

Then again, would you?

“We need to find Vlad,” she reiterated.

“And my shadow, let’s not forget,” Johnny pointed out. “I told you I was gonna help you, but I think this is where we part ways for now.”

“Well wait, can’t we help each other look for them?” the half ghost heroine asked, turning to the ghostly biker.

“I can sense how far and how close my shadow is. I already know where to go to find it. Besides, we’re less likely to be caught if we’re separated.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“Hey, cheer up, kid,” Johnny said with a smirk. “We’ll meet back here in half an hour. We’re getting outta this, you an’ me.”

Dani smiled and nodded. “Right!”

Johnny gave a finger salute before booking down the corridor. The layout of Solitary, at least on the first floor, was identical to that of the Female Ward, where long corridors were only interrupted by a set of double doors, dividing the building into sections. As Johnny went through the doors at the end of hall, Dani had to wonder if the stairs to the next floor would be found further in the building. Nodding to herself in determination, the heroine jogged after her partner in crime and entered the next area of Solitary. Once passed the doors, she didn’t see Johnny, which led her to presume that he was quicker than she thought.

Just like the last hall, this one was unnervingly quiet.

“Vlad?” she called, but no response came. “Vlad?”

She heard mumbling, but not in a voice she recognized. Dani followed the sound and peered into a cell not too far from the entrance. There was no light in the cell, but she could make out a shivering shape in the corner. Whoever it was, they were speaking to quietly for her to hear all that well, but she could make out a few choice words: “quiet”, “alone”, “too loud”, and “surrounded”.

Each word contradicted the other, leading Dani to believe that the ghost was probably a little loose in the head. It was so tragic, watching this person quivering from the cold, knowing they had gone deaf from the unbearable silence.

How could someone do this to someone else, even if they had broken the law?

It was cruel, far too cruel to be allowed.

_Whatever respect I may have had for Walker is totally gone now. What sort of ghost is he, anyway?? _

He decided to go easy on Dani’s sentence, but why couldn’t he extend that curtesy to others---people who probably deserved it more than she?

Backing away from the cell, the heroine heard a shout from further within Solitary. It came from beyond the doors, and it sounded like the person was in great despair. The girl felt overwhelmed with sympathy and had to wipe the oncoming tears from her eyes.

There wasn’t much she could do for the people in Solitary---at least, not at the moment. Maybe in the future, she could figure out how to free them and/or get them help. For now, she had to stay focused.

She was living on borrowed time, so to speak.

Dani jogged through the next set of doors, finding herself greeted by the same sight of cells. She called out the name of the billionaire, but once again she was met with silence. She did this for the next two cell blocks, and just when she was beginning to lose hope, she saw a separate hallway adjacent to a stair well.

Turns out she was right about the stairs.

The doorway that lead into this hallway was labeled “Extreme Isolation”, and reading it left a bad feeling in the half ghost’s gut.

Her mentor had to be in there, but knowing this (or thinking this) was rather troubling. Dani decided then that she wasn’t going to think about it---she was just going to charge right on in there and find her true love.

And she did.

Dani jogged down this corridor as her neon green orbs scanned the cells on either side of her. These were bigger than the other cells, being much wider and having larger doors. However, there were no windows on the doors, meaning there was no way to tell if anyone was inside the cells.

The young girl approached a cell and threw the door open, only to find it empty. She went to the one across the hall, but find this one to be vacant as well.

“Don’t tell me I’m going to have to check all the cells?” she asked herself in disbelief.

Just then, something at the very end of the corridor caught her eye. It was another cell, but the door was a little bigger than the others. In addition, she could make out a faint blue light coming from the underneath the door.

“He’s gotta be in there.”

She ran to the cell, feet stomping on the floor. Her heart was pounding, but not from anxiety or overexertion; finally, she was going to be reunited with him, her beloved mentor. After what felt like days---even though it had only been a few hours---the ghost girl was finally going to see him again.

Funny how uncertainty and dread can make time speed up and drag on forever.

Dani threw the door open, and before her was a strange apparatus on the back wall. Blue light emanated off the sockets that held its captor in place, and that captor was Vlad Plasmius.

“Vlad!” the teenager yelled in delight and relief.

The older man looked up and opened his eyes, which were then filled with surprise.

“Danielle?”

His face was bruised and a stream of green trailed down from one of his eyes. It was dried up, indicating that it had been there for a while. His oufit was torn in places too, like his sleeves and his torso. Upon closer inspection, the tycoon also had a fresher trickle of green coming from his mouth.

“Vlad!!” the younger half ghost cried as she ran into the cell, face adorned with dismay.

“Wait, Danielle, be careful, this device is---!”

When she was close enough, Dani was electrocuted by the contraption. She yelled in pain and stumbled backward.

“What the hell?!”

“I tried to warn you. This device is dangerous.”

“O.K., so how do I get you down?” she asked as she looked around the room.

“I’m not sure. I was knocked unconscious before being placed in this thing,” the businessman explicated.

“Well, it can’t be that hard,” the girl reasoned as her focus came back to her. All she wanted to do was throw herself into his arms and hold him tight, but she needed to release him first.

“Danielle, how did you get here? How did you find me?”

“Johnny 13 helped me get in here. He came up with using suppression gas on the guards in the East Tower to sneak in here.”

“Johnny 13?” the older half ghost asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s someone I met a while ago,” Dani explained as she looked over the apparatus. “We used to be enemies, but I became friends with his girlfriend and now he and I are cool.”

“Ah, I see.”

He sounded a little too relieved.

Dani had to chuckle.

“I’m impressed that you managed to evade Walker,” the billionaire praised. “He’s not the sort of ghost to let things slip by him.”

“I got that impression, but I was able to gain his trust.”

“How did you do that?”

“I uh…I basically led him to believe that I doubted you---that I was coming around to the idea of you being a manipulator who was only using me.”

“What?” Plasmius vocalized in a tone that worried Dani. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t!” the girl clarified as she shot back up and looked him in the eye. “I just had to make Walker think I thought that way! He’s so sure that you’re nothing but a monster who plays people like fiddles, so I had to make him think that I was starting to think the same way.”

“So…you would stay by my side, knowing what I’ve done in the past?” Something in his eyes was pleading with her and his tone sounded worried.

But he needn’t fret. She wasn’t going anywhere.

“Of course I would,” she declared, a smile blooming on her youthful face. “I don’t care about what happened back then. You’re a different person now, and I know you’re capable of being better. The only thing that I care about is being with you.”

“Danielle…”

“My resolve hasn’t changed,” she reiterated as she blushed. “I still have to become your equal, right?”

Vlad’s red eyes widened. Warmth, bliss, and overwhelming happiness flooded his heart and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. His little badger had grown up so much, more than she realized. She was well on her way to becoming his equal.

“Danielle, you are the only one for me,” he said, his voice like honey and his features soft.

The girl looked at the floor, feeling her face heat up even more.

“R-right back at you, Froot loop.”

He chuckled.

“Oh, right! I was able to keep this from Walker too,” Dani stated as she pulled her pendant out from under her shirt. “No way was I going to let him take this when I had just found it.”

“I’m glad you love it that much.”

“As much as I love you,” the ghost girl proclaimed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I should hope so, or rather I should hope that you love me just as much or even more than that pendant,” the tycoon said with a smirk.

Dani giggled.

“Now, as much as I would love telling you this over and over again, I would prefer to be released from this thing first.”

“Oh yeah, my bad,” the heroine said before reattempting to locate something to set Vlad free.

“There is a control panel on that wall,” he pointed out, indicated with a nod toward the wall in question. “You may find the right switch over there.”

“Got it,” the younger half ghost said before heading over to the control panel.

“Just don’t pull down the level on your left. It activates the device.”

“Right, no problem.”

Just as she approached the panel, two arms reached out from behind her and grabbed her in a vice like hold. Dani yelled out in surprise and looked over her shoulder, only to be met with the glaring mug of the ghostly prison warden.

“Walker!”

“Walker! Let her go!” the business mogul demanded, all softness gone from his features. Now, he was glaring intently and baring his fangs.

“Something told me that your kicked-puppy routine was only a sham,” he stated, his brow furrowed. “I knew you make your way here.”

“So you left me alone on purpose?”

“Of course I did, you foolish child,” he affirmed. “Why in the Ghost Zone would I leave such a high-profile prisoner like you unsupervised and near the Armory? Did you really think you outsmarted me?”

“Drop her, Walker, NOW!”

“So what was all that for?” the heroine questioned. “What do you gain from catching me here, huh? If you knew I was going to escape with Vlad, then why didn’t you try to stop me before?”

“I needed to know who your accomplice was, although I had an idea…” he said before he gave a nod to someone outside the cell. A guard stepped inside, holding Johnny 13 by the collar of his shirt.

“Johnny!”

“Hey kid,” he said, a faint smile on his face.

“You know what this means for you, don’t you?” the ghostly authoritarian asked rhetorically.

“NO! No, let her go!!” the billionaire commanded as he thrashed.

“You know the rules, ghost girl,” Walker said as he leaned his face close to hers. “You’re goin’ to the Chamber.”

All color left the heroine’s face.

“Let her go, Walker!” the ghostly biker ordered. “It was all me---I’m the one who came up with the plan!”

“You seemed to think I can be swayed,” he said as he glared at Johnny. “You also seem to think I died yesterday. I know that she’s behind this fruitless plot, just as I know that you were only involved to free that shadow of yours.”

“That’s not the only reason!” Dani protested.

“You don’t know anything, pig,” Johnny chastised with a glare of his own. “You don’t even know anything about yourself, it looks like.”

“Trying to distract me, boy?”

“You’ve clearly chosen to ignore what’s going on with you, and it’s pretty fucking sad,” the ghostly bad boy mocked with a smirk. “And now you’re lying to make yourself feel better? Oh, that’s too rich.”

Dani looked at Johnny with puzzled eyes. What was he talking about?

“What, can’t handle the fact that you were wrong about love, old man?”

_Love? _

“Enough, inmate,” Walker said with a firm tone. “You’re trying my patience.”

“Pretty sure I’m not the only thing trying your patience.”

“Silence.”

“Bet your almost fit to burst, Mr. Warden.”

“ENOUGH.”

Walker blasted the ghostly bad boy, sending him into the wall and knocking him unconscious.

“Johnny!” Dani cried before trying to free herself from Walker’s grip.

“Leave us,” Walker said to the guard, who immediately removed himself from the room and shut the door. “Now, it’s just us.”

“You’ll pay for that!” the heroine decreed. “You’ll pay for all the suffering you’ve inflicted on the ghosts in this prison!”

“You intend to exact justice upon the law? A fool’s errand, little miss.”

“The law isn’t supposed to be cruel!”

“Cruel to be kind, some say.”

“There is nothing kind about any of this!”

“Justice isn’t kind to malefactors, ghost girl. Kindness only applies to those who’ve been hurt by the criminals and Ne’er-do-wells of the Ghost Zone.”

“Even so, you can’t just treat criminals like savages! They’re people too and even they have rights!”

“Perhaps in naïve institutions.”

“Everyone has to be held accountable, right? Well, so does the law! Especially the law!”

“Enough of this,” Walker said dismissively as he looked at Plasmius. “Responsibility can only be absolved for so long. You may have been influenced by this reprobate, but there comes a point where you can’t make excuses anymore.”

“You will release her, Walker!” the older man demanded.

“Or what? You can’t do anything while strapped in that device,” the ghostly authoritarian reminded.

“Just let Johnny go,” Dani appealed. “Just punish me and leave him alone.”

“No, Danielle!”

Walker looked back at the ghost girl. “I can’t make exceptions.”

“But you said you did!”

“That was simply a ploy, little miss, or do you not recognize one when its used against you?”

Dani stared into Walker’s eyes, glaring intently at his chalk-white face. He looked just as unforgiving as he did when they were arrested, just as stern.

Just as angry.

When they spoke earlier, he seemed kinder, more reasonable. His features bore expressions of pity and even sympathy. He really didn’t seem like he was lying or playing her for a fool. It seemed too real.

Did she fall for his trick, or was there something else going on here?

And what did Johnny mean? Was there something she wasn’t aware of?

“I said release her, you miserable fool!” Vlad yelled, his eyes flashing as he continued to struggle.

Walker blinked. “Is your need to possess this girl that strong, or are even you capable of feelings?”

“I told you, he’s my One and Only, and I am his!” the heroine said. “And of course he’s capable of feelings, but I’m starting to wonder if you are!”

“Insults will only hasten your trip to the Chamber,” the ghostly prison warden warned.

“I’ve fought some real pieces of work since I got my powers, but you’re right up there with the worst of the worst! You’re not that much better than Spectra!” the young girl proclaimed as she tried to fight her captor off.

“That’s enough out of you,” he said with an eye twitch.

“You’re just as bad as she is! She puts people through pointless pain in order to feed her own ego---she gets off on it! You enjoy penalizing others to make yourself feel all high and mighty, like you’re above it all!”

“Silence.”

“You like to think you’re the law embodied---like you’re above everything! Well guess what, buddy, no one is above anything! The law would be horrified to know that you were hurting so many people in its name!”

“Silence!” Walker yelled, applying pressure from his forearm to the younger half ghost’s throat. She grunted and grabbed his arm in an effort to pull it away from her.

“Danielle!”

“You’re quite troublesome, ghost girl,” the ghostly authoritarian noted. “You manage to get your opponents all riled up, which inevitably lead to their defeat. You will not so lucky with me, however.”

“She seemed to cut you to the quick pretty good, old fart,” Johnny croaked from his place on the floor. He was now turned in their direction and was wearing quite the shit-eating grin.

Did the guards do a number on him before bringing him in here?

After all, he was only blasted once, but it looked as if he had kicked until his ribs were broken.

“You’re all too tiresome,” he proclaimed as he walked over to the lever. “I’m done playing around.”

“What are you---?!”

Dani was interrupted as Walker pulled the lever down and the sound of Vlad’s agonized cries perforated the room. She whipped her head in his direction and a look of horror came upon her face.

“No! No, Vlad!”

She thrashed and kicked, but Walker’s hold was absolute. The heroine tried to bite him, but her head was being craned upward given the way he was holding her.

“Let me go! Let me go!!”

“Let her go!” the ghostly biker demanded as he crawled across the floor.

As the billionaire continued to scream, rage and desperation built within Dani’s core. Just like at the reunion, she was helpless to help Vlad. Although, unlike that time, Vlad didn’t have a way to save himself. This time, he was just as helpless as she was.

“Stop it! Stop it, please!” she implored. “You’re gonna kill him!”

“This device isn’t capable of obliteration, but it will make him wish it was.”

Dani’s eyes went wide and she thrashed even harder. There had to be a way to free herself, to get her, Johnny, and Vlad out of this place. There had to be way to kick the crap out of Walker and break out of the Ghost Zone Prison for good. She was supposed to be a superhero, but here she was, failing once again. As tears licked at her eyes, Dani felt a crushing feeling overcome her senses, a kind of overwhelming that makes one’s mind fill with frantic static.

What made matters worse was the fact that she couldn’t use her powers.

But how was Walker able to use his?

It probably had to do with the fact that he was the warden. The system that operated the sensors and alarms in the prison probably weren’t registered with his ecto-signature.

Talk about an imbalance of power.

The girl watched at Vlad grit his teeth, silencing himself. As soon as he stopped screaming, Walker pulled the lever down.

“Still refraining from giving in?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

As the older man panted, he lifted his head up to look at the ghostly warden. It looked like his head weighed a 100 pounds.

“Never,” he huffed.

“You have more fight in you than I realized,” Walker stated as he walked back into the center of the room. “I congratulate you.”

“But you’re still not satisfied; you won’t be quelled until you’ve broken my spirit completely.”

“How astute of you, Plasmius.”

“But your efforts are futile,” the older half ghost declared. “I do not surrender---to anyone.”

“When your life is at stake, you do not care. But, when her life is at stake, you react with much vigor,” Walker observed, looking down at Dani and then back to Vlad.

“Naturally,” the tycoon began, lowering his head and looking at Walker through his lashes. “I love her.”

“Ghosts enjoy throwing that word around; love. They tell stories of mythical bonded partners and everlasting affection, all in an effort to make this eternal existence a little less grueling. But for you, perhaps there’s a sliver of possibility. After all, you two are only half ghost, so there is a bit of human in you.”

“And whatever humanity you might’ve had is long gone, pal,” Johnny said as he pulled himself up.

Dani looked in his direction.

_Thank God, he’s O.K. _

Walker regarded him: “You might think about silencing yourself.”

“And deprive everyone of my lovely voice?”

Dani smirked.

“You just enjoying hearing the sound of it.”

“What can I say, old man? I’m blessed.”

Dani laughed, but she was choked by Walker’s forearm.

“You really wanna let her go,” the ghostly biker advised. “We both know you’re not going to do anything to her anyway.”

“Want to test that?” he questioned, holding Dani’s neck even tighter.

“Enough!” Vlad yelled at Johnny. “Don’t provoke him, you fool!”

“Don’t worry, Plasmius, he won’t harm a single hair on her head. He can’t, not while he’s conflicted like this.”

“Conflicted?” Walker repeated, his tone skeptical.

_Conflicted? Conflicted about what? _

“It’s gotta suck, doesn’t it? It goes against your principles, but at the same time you can’t bring yourself to hurt her. If you could, you would’ve carted her off to the Chamber by now.”

“What makes you think I’m not punishing her? Having her witness the penalty of Vlad Plasmius while she claims to love him is not without its scars.”

“True, but how would you know that if you’ve never been in love before?”

Right then, Walker and Vlad’s eyes both went wide, with each of their faces becoming adorned in shock. Dani looked at the billionaire and then up at her captor, seeing this change in mood. How had Johnny come to that conclusion? Was Walker in love? Had he never been in love before? Although, that would explain his belief that One and Onlys were nothing but a fiction. So was he in love now? With who?

“_We both know you’re not going to do anything to her anyway.”_

_Oh God. _

_Oh God. No way. Hold on! _

“Nonsense, speak more nonsense if it makes you feel better,” Walker said, his face reflecting a building rage. “You’ll say whatever it takes to get out of this, won’t you?”

“Kitty tells me I need to be more honest,” Johnny explained with a shrug.

“Honesty is not something that someone like you is familiar with.”

“Maybe not, but at least I don’t lie to myself.”

Walker blasted Johnny again, only this time the beam was bigger. It slammed into him and sent him back into the wall. When he hit the floor with a dull thud, he coughed up ectoplasm.

“Johnny!”

“By my count, I still have several ecto-arteries to rupture,” the ghostly authoritarian observed in a cold tone of voice.

“You misbegotten abomination,” the older man growled, his eyes glowing again. They were burning with fuchsia, with wisps of it wafting from the corners.

“Vlad…?”

“Do you honestly believe him?” Walker questioned. “Do you really think it is possible for me to have such feelings, let alone have them for a swindler like her? You must be truly deluded.”

“Shut your mouth,” the billionaire ordered, his tone low and dark.

“You hold no power here, Plasmius, when will you see that? When will you finally accept your fate? When will you finally submit to me?”

Now Walker sounded frustrated.

Vlad didn’t respond with words but merely growled. Walker studied him for a minute, cocking his head to the side. He appeared to be thinking about something---contemplating something, and Dani wasn’t sure she liked that at all.

Whatever was going on in his head, it couldn’t be good.

Then, the ghostly warden looked down at the ghost girl. Their eyes met, and Dani saw something within them. They indeed looked conflicted, reaffirming Johnny’s claim. He even furrowed his brow.

Was he really in love with her? If that was true, then was Walker lying when he said he has been playing her for a fool? Did he actually care for her but then felt betrayed when he found her in Vlad’s cell? Had he overheard them? Was he upset that she was already taken---and by someone he’s had a decade long grudge against?

“This girl really means that much to you…” he noted. “So if I saw to her obliteration, you would fall apart, wouldn’t you?”

“Don’t. You. **DARE**,” Vlad warned, the light of his eyes getting more intense as he said the last syllable.

_But if he actually loves me…ew…then he won’t do that, right? _

How sad was it, that she was banking on her enemy’s supposed love for her to save her from certain death?

Walker blinked and went quiet for a moment. He never broke eye contact with Dani, and she refused to look away either. For her, it was a display of will, but for him, who knows? She didn’t, or at least, she wanted to think she didn’t.

“To get you to submit, clearly I must resort to drastic measures.”

Before she could blink, Walker’s lips were upon hers, sending the coldest chill she had ever felt through her body. Her green eyes shot wide open and she kicked her legs as much as she could. Johnny’s gasp of dismay was audible to her, making her desire to be liberated even stronger. She hummed in displeasure as she shut her eyes to a painful degree. Digging her fingers into Walker’s forearm, her mind raced and screamed. The ghostly warden’s body, being that of a ghost, was cold to the touch, and thus his lips was just as chilled.

Then his tongue slipped into her mouth.

It felt like a popsicle fresh out of the fridge, just as freezing and jarring. However, it lacked any sort of sweetness and flavor. Instead, it felt moist, icy, and unpleasant. Dani felt a gag in the back of her throat, and the overpowering urge to separate herself from Walker got that much stronger.

Vlad’s kisses were warm, inviting, delicate, if at times overwhelming and passion fueled. But this, this was entirely different. It was as if she could feel the motive behind it, or the tangled emotions afflicting her captor. With Vlad, his love was communicated quite clearly, and here, Walker’s denial and malicious intent was just as clear.

Dani didn’t dare open her eyes, but the sound of a low, primal, and guttural growl almost made her inclined to do so. She somehow felt colder now, with a sudden icy breeze wafting through the room.

It was as if the temperature had decreased, and perhaps Walker was reacting to this change because she felt him pull away, though he didn’t let go. Dani gasped for air and opened her eyes, ready to let the ghostly warden have it, but a terrifying sight caught her eye.

When she turned her head, she saw the light in Vlad’s eyes turn from fuchsia to red and his fangs protrude from his mouth. They grew large enough that he couldn’t close his mouth anymore and his orbs seemed to reflect this growth because they too were increasing in size---expanding until they nearly covered his entire face. At the same time, the man’s ghostly aura had turned red and was rising rapidly. In no time at all, it was just ghosting the ceiling.

To add to this, razor-sharp crawls crept through the tips of his gloves, tearing the black fabric.

“Vlad? Vlad!” Dani called. What was happening? Was he changing again?

The older man never did tell her about this new power of his, but perhaps it was because he was busy with other things. Last time he used it, he was unaware of it, but now that he knew he had it, was it using it now, to bust them all free?

Plasmius put strain on the cuffs of the apparatus, causing them to groan. It was an eerie sound, made worse by Vlad’s increasingly monstrous appearance.

“What is this?” Walker inquired with a dubious expression.

The tycoon growled again, this time louder, and more strain was put on the cuffs. Sparks spit out from several places on the device and bolts of electricity coursed over the man’s body.

“Vlad, stop! You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

He did not heed her, nor did he seem to be aware of her, for he kept on with the pressure. His snarls sent shivers up Dani’s spine as his abnormally large eyes blackened, save for two small red dots in the center.

Then, like an animal in a cage, Vlad tore through the apparatus, blowing the cuffs right off his arms and legs.

He landed on the floor on both feet, orbs baring directly into Walker’s own. The ghostly warden stiffened but did not move.

“Holy fuck, kid, what the hell is that?” Johnny asked in a mix of trepidation and intrigue.

“Uh…Vlad’s final form?”

“What the hell is this, Dragon Ball Z?”

Right then, something flew through (yes, through) the wall and smacked Walker on the temple. It hit the floor, and Dani realized that it was the Booo-merang.

“What the…?”

Right after asking this, something much larger also came directly through the wall of the cell. Dani, Walker, and Johnny all turned their head in the direction of the strange vehicle that was now hovering before them. The lettering in the side revealed it to be the Specter Speeder, with Sam and Tucker on the other side of the windshield.

“Tucker! Sam!” Dani cried in delight.

“Dani!” the goth shouted as he hopped out of the ship.

“Finally! Do you know how long it took us to find you? I swear, the Booo-merang gets lost faster than Sam does at Hot Topic,” Tucker complained as she jumped out of the Specter Speeder as well.

“What in the Ghost Zone is this?!” Walker inquired in frustration.

“A rescue. What, you’ve never seen one?” the computer geek mocked with a grin.

“Guys! Oh, thank God you’re here! I thought I’d never see you again!”

“You’re telling me, it took us hours to get here.”

“What the hell is this place, some kind of prison?” the rebel asked.

“Long story,” the ghost girl stated.

“And how did you end up in here?”

“Even longer story.”

The ghostly bad boy stumbled to his feet, gazed fixed on the geek and the goth as he held his arm against his battered torso.

“And now the moltey crew is here,” he commented. “Kitty’s gonna wanna know about this for sure.”

“Oh frick, Johnny 13 is here,” Tucker observed casually.

“Had a feeling he’d end up in prison,” Sam remarked.

“Hey!”

“ENOUGH!” Walker shouted, his voice echoing off the walls. “This stops right here and right now!”

“I think he begs to differ,” Johnny stated, pointing toward the beastly form of Vlad Plasmius. His black hair was falling out of its usual shape and growing longer, only stopping when it reached the small of his back.

“Holy crap,” the techno whiz muttered, her face decorated with shock.

The nonconformist had turned to look at Vlad too, but then he turned back to Dani, who was still in Walker’s grip.

“Let her go!” he demanded.

“My patience was wasted,” he began, scowling at everyone in the room. “It would appear that you don’t deserve my patience. Offenders like you will never learn---from your plans to break out to your ill-fated ‘rescue’ missions---you will simply repeat the same behaviors that brought you in here. I have no choice but to obliterate every single one of you.”

“Leave Tucker and Sam alone!” the heroine insisted. “They’re not a part of this!”

“They were the second you summoned them.”

“I didn’t summon them!”

“Yeah dude, we came on our own,” the geek clarified.

“And a good thing we did too,” the black-clad teen added as he furrowed his brow. “We would’ve been here sooner if that stupidly named tracking device didn’t keep getting lost.”

A snarl could be heard as the red light of Vlad’s aura intensified, causing all five of them to shield their eyes for a second. The brightness reached its apex when the older man let out a primal roar as he launched himself at Walker. As soon as the light faded enough to look again, the ghostly authoritarian leapt over Vlad and hovered in the air, his back to the now destroyed apparatus.

The billionaire whipped right around and flew at Walker, who conjured a green riot shield from the back of his wrist. The business mogul crashed against the shield, his shoulder creating a massive dent in the metal.

“He’s changed again,” Tucker noted.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Sam remarked.

“Guys, how did you get in here like that?” Dani asked over the skirmish. “Is the Specter Speeder coated in some kind of anti-ghost paint?”

“What do you mean? We just flew in, you saw,” the computer whiz replied.

“I know, but---”

“We didn’t do anything special with the Specter Speeder,” the goth said after watching Plasmius throw himself against Walker’s shield again. “Hey, watch it! You’re gonna hurt Dani!”

“Yo, kid!” Johnny called to Sam. “Need some help?”

Before the rebel teen could respond, Dani addressed the ghostly bad boy.

“Don’t worry about this! Go find your shadow!”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, we can handle this, especially with Vlad using his new power!”

“Well…shit…O.K. then,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll be back for ya!”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Walker yelled as he shot another blast Johnny’s way, but the ghostly biker was able to dodge and slip out of the room.

“I kinda need context,” the techno whiz requested.

“Not now, Tucker!” Sam lectured.

“You will regret bringing you lackies to **my** prison, ghost girl,” Walker proclaimed bitterly, though with a hint of danger in his voice. Still holding Dani, the ghostly authoritarian shoved his riot shield forward, knocking Vlad back a few feet. However, the older man recovered fast and was back on him; he thrust his claws forward and knocked the riot shield from Walker’s hand. Then, those talon-like claws were upon Walker’s face, scratching it deeply and causing him to bleed green. Walker cried out but did not release the heroine.

Drops of ectoplasm landed on the girl’s cheeks, making her shiver.

“Careful, you idiot!” the rebel reprimanded.

Tucker ran to grab a hold of Walker’s arm but found that her hands went right through him.

“What the…?”

“Tucker, Get out of there or you---!”

Walker swiped at the Nubian teen, but instead of sending her into the wall, his arm passed through her.

Now he was puzzled.

“What is this?”

“That’s why I was wondering,” Tucker stated genuinely.

_Walker’s in solid form, so how are they phasing through each other? _

The businessman ran at Walker again, this time bringing his claws downward from above and slicing into the ghostly warden’s forearm. More green leaked from him and he yelled in both rebuke and pain.

Sam, meanwhile, ran up to Tucker and pulled her away from the fracas.

“What’re you trying to do, get yourself killed?!”

“Didn’t you see that? I couldn’t even touch that creep!” she replied as she pointed to Walker.

“Yeah, which means you really shouldn’t get involved!”

“But we’re here to save Dani, aren’t we? Or wait, are you leaving it to Vlad?”

“Better to stand by for now than risk being torn to shreds.”

They both looked back at the fight before them,

“Fair point.”

The younger half ghost watched as her mentor ripped into the ectoplasmic makeup of Walker’s arm. Soon enough, there wouldn’t be any arm left to tear through.

But the fact that he was able to slice into the ghostly warden like a cake meant that Walker was indeed corporeal. So why wasn’t Tucker able to touch him? Why wasn’t he able to touch her?

Why was Specter Speeder able to phase through the wall?

In the human world, ghosts could phase through any solid object if they when intangible, but humans possessed no such power.

At least, in their world.

_Wait a minute…this is the Ghost Zone, a ghostly realm made of ectoplasm and energy…so can human pass through objects in the Ghost Zone like ghosts can in my world? _

Since the Ghost Zone was the opposite of the human realm, did the opposite apply?

Twin white rings appeared at the girl’s midsection, transforming her back into Dani Fenton. The minute she was back to her normal form, she slipped through Walker’s grip like a bar of soap. The ghostly authoritarian look quite shocked as Dani ran across the room and to her friends.

“Hoy cow! Nice move, Dani,” Tucker enthused.

“Of course!” Sam said in revelation. “In the Ghost Zone, everything is the opposite!”

“Yeah, wish I’d figured that out sooner,” the ghost girl said as she looked back at the skirmish. “I wouldn’t been out of here hours ago.”

“Why didn’t you just use your powers?”

“‘Cause Walker’s got lasers that blast you if you use your powers in any of the buildings.”

“Oh.”

“Well who cares now? Vlad’s got this all taken care of,” Tucker stated as she tucked her hands behind her head after she too looked back at the fight.

The older half ghost growled as he dealt another blow, completely severing Walker’s arm from his body. The limb landed on the floor in a puddle of ectoplasm and the ghostly prison warden gave a shriek that could deafen an elephant.

However, the older man didn’t stop.

Vlad began lashing madly at Walker’s broad form, rending ecto-flesh from ecto-flesh and spilling even more green.

“He’s not letting up, is he?” the techno whiz inquired in a concerned tone.

“How did he change again? What happened?” the goth asked, looking at Dani.

“Uh…” Did he really want to know?

Walker pulled away from his attacker and tossed his riot shield at him. Vlad merely dodged by jumping onto the make-shift projectile and propelling himself forward. He growled again and, to the utter shock of the trio, bit into Walker’s neck.

The ghostly authoritarian howled in agony before attempting to wretch the savage half ghost off of him. Vlad ripped, tore, and lacerated the white flesh as spurts of ectoplasm erupted upward. Walker’s howls were then replaced by gargling sounds.

He placed his hands on either side of Plasmius and applied as much strength as he could, but the billionaire was going nowhere.

“Oh my God,” Tucker said in a stunned tone. “Vlad’s mauling him.”

“He’s going to kill him at this rate,” Sam stated after looking again at Dani. “I mean, ghosts can be killed, right?”

“Obliterated, yeah.”

“Is that what they call it?”

“Vlad told me that ghosts can be killed like humans, but not by the usual means. They have to be completely destroyed in order to be killed in the way we understand it.” the heroine illuminated.

“Well, Vlad’s sure on his way,” the computer whiz commented.

Dani observed the struggle as Walker managed to kick Vlad in the stomach, sending him back by a foot. The ghostly warden held his neck, which resembled more of a neon green lasagna than a part of a humanoid body.

“We have to stop him,” the ghost girl stated.

“Who, Vlad?”

“Yes, Vlad,” Dani repeated with a frown in Tucker’s direction. “Even though Walker is a massive creep he shouldn’t get obliterated over it.

“You’re gonna have to tell us what exactly went on here,” Sam insisted.

“And I will, but let’s get out of here first,” the half ghost heroine said before walking over to her mentor, whose lips were covered in green.

It honestly frightened her.

“V-vlad?” she asked, her tone soft but unsure.

He didn’t regard her.

“Vlad? Come on, lets just go. Walker isn’t worth it.”

The ghostly warden spat out more ectoplasm on the floor, giving the couple a real good evil-eye.

“Johnny’s probably found his shadow by now, s-so lets just go,” Dani said as she placed a delicate hand on the older man’s arm.

Once again, he didn’t regard her.

In fact, his attention was exclusively on Walker.

“Vlad?”

The billionaire snarled and charged forward again, brandishing his claws and attacking Walker’s other arm when he put it up as a guard.

“Something’s wrong,” Sam murmured.

“Yeah, he didn’t even listen to Dani,” the techno geek said in concern.

The rebel teen narrowed his eyes as the business mogul leapt over Walker’s shoulder and ripped into his back. Walker, in retaliation, manifested a baton and swung it at Vlad’s face. It made impact with a sickening clang. Dani gasped and the other two jumped, worry evident in each of their features. The older half ghost hunched over, his eyes facing the floor as drops of green hit the chilled surface. When he looked back up, dark green was visibly pouring from a gash in his forehead. The hunter green ectoplasm, which was an unusual color, dripped over his right eye and down his cheek and even over his mouth, adding to his already savage appearance.

Tucker felt herself shudder.

“Vlad!” the heroine cried, but once again he didn’t regard her.

Plasmius, instead, let out a guttural growl and sprinted to Walker with speed the devil would be envious of. The ghostly prison warden wielded his baton like a sword, swing it in perfect time with Vlad’s strikes. Even though he had lost a lot of ectoplasm, he still had much fight in him.

“There’s no way he’s gonna last,” the computer geek said as she crossed her arms, the chill of the room finally getting to her.

“No, Walker’s as good as dead,” the rebel teen agreed. “But I don’t understand; Vlad was able to come to his senses last time, so why not now?”

“Maybe he can’t control it after all?”

Tucker’s question made Sam’s blood run cold.

The younger half ghost ran up to Plasmius and grabbed his arm, holding on with everything she had.

“Vlad! Vlad, can’t you hear me?”

“He’s an animal, ghost girl,” the ghostly authoritarian gurgled.

“Vlad! Vlad, please! You have to stop now!!”

“Dani! Let him go, you’re going to get killed!” the goth beseeched as he ran to her, Tucker at his heels. The two latched themselves onto Dani’s torso and clung to her like baby gorillas.

“Help me stop him, you guys!” the heroine implored.

“Screw that, we’re here to keep you alive!”

“Ey yo, Vlad! Now would be a good time to wake up, don’tcha think?!” the techno geek suggested, though it really wasn’t a suggestion.

With all three of the teens’ feet planted on the floor, it was harder for the billionaire to pull free. He strained against them, obviously trying to get to his target. His huge black eyes burned with a wrath that could only be compared to that of Ares or Hera.

The ghostly prison warden took this opportunity to swing at the billionaire again, except this time, Plasmius used his free arm and grabbed the baton and shattered it in his grip, as if it was made of glass.

The trio, as well as Walker, were astonished.

Plasmius yanked his arm free of the teenagers and socked Walker in his chin in the process. The punch was hard enough to break the skin (er, ghost skin) and thus, even more ectoplasm was shed.

Dani, Sam, and Tucker landed in a heap on the floor, shock and adrenaline running through them.

The geek sat up. “What the hell do we do now?”

“Hop in the Specter Speeder and get the fuck out of here,” the nonconformist stated.

“No, we aren’t going without Vlad!” the ghost girl asserted.

“So, what do you suppose we do about him, huh? He’s obviously out of his mind and isn’t listening to us, and he’s super dangerous right now!”

“I don’t know, but we just can’t leave him!”

“Maybe we need to knock some sense back into him,” the techno whiz recommended.

“How? He was smacked right in the face and his reaction was to get angrier,” Sam reminded.

“Exactly! He was hit in the face, not the head. We just need to hit him good on the noggin.”

Dani and Sam offered Tucker a slow blink and said nothing.

“Well, you two got any better ideas?”

The heroine stood up. “I’ve got one, but I don’t know if it’s’ ‘good’.”

“Dani, no,” the rebel began as he grabbed her wrist. “He’ll tear you apart if you try to stop him again!”

“You don’t know that,” she countered. “Besides, he would never hurt me.”

“Maybe not when he’s normal!”

“Sam,” Dani said as she looked down at her friend. “I can’t leave him. Even if he can’t hear me, how could I leave him behind? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to him while I escaped to save myself.”

The goth stared into her baby blues, but deep down he knew he wasn’t going to get her to change her mind.

After all, if the roles were different, if he was in her place and she was in Vlad’s, he would do the exact same thing.

With a dejected expression, he let her go.

Not wasting a moment, Dani sprinted to her mentor and went under his arm to embrace his torso. She gripped tightly and dug her heels as far into the solid floor as she could.

Which wasn’t much at all.

“Vlad! Vlad, listen to me, I’m O.K.---we’re O.K.! You don’t have to do this!”

Walker wiped his chin with his sleeve, eyes baring an icy rage. The ghost was bleeding from all over his body, yet he refused to go down. He would sooner be destroyed than surrendering willingly.

He and the billionaire were similar in that regard.

“Vlad, please, I’m begging you!” the girl beseeched. “Don’t obliterate Walker! Don’t repeat the same mistake from 10 years ago!!”

The goth and the geek looked puzzled, but something akin to realization flashed in the former’s features.

The ghostly authoritarian used his momentary ceasefire to conjure ecto-energy in his palms. Before Dani could react, he fired at her and her mentor.

“Dani!” Tucker and Sam cried.

The girl shut her eyes, refusing to let go. But she felt movement under her arms and then a pair of stronger ones around her. She felt the impact of the blast, but what she didn’t feel was pain. Opening her baby blues, the heroine came face to face with Vlad’s shoulder. He had moved himself so he was now kneeling down and hugging her close to him.

“V-vlad?”

“Did he…did he just protect her?” the computer geek asked, a smile a relief blooming on her face.

“It looks like it,” the nonconformist muttered, his tone lacking suspicion.

Dani’s palm felt warm, and when she looked at them, she saw that they were covered in ectoplasm.

“Vlad, you’re bleeding!” she panicked.

It was quite a bit of ectoplasm---he’s entire back was bathed in it.

Walker adopted a cold visage and slowly walked over to the couple. The ghost girl looked at him as he approached.

“I was going to send you to the Chamber, savior your executions, but now it is clear that the two of you are too dangerous to take that chance. It’s obvious that I have no choice but to obliterate you here and now.”

“Good luck with that! You can’t hurt Dani as long as she’s in human form!” the computer geek called from her spot in the room.

“Perhaps not, but if I was to do something that would force her to change back into her ghost form…” he hinted, manifesting another ball of ecto-energy in his hand.

“Don’t you dare hurt him, Walker!”

Suddenly, the ghostly warden’s features looked soft again, just as they did earlier that evening.

“It’s too bad, little miss, you had a promising career ahead of you, but you chose to associate with the likes of Plasmius.”

Dani wore the harshest glare she could muster, making her mirror that of an enraged child.

“I won’t say I’ll regret doing this, but I do regret that it must be done.”

“Save it,” the heroine hissed. “You’re a sadist who gets off on tormenting others. You claim to be a deliverer of justice, but that word would sooner fit a vigilante than you.”

There was silence for a few seconds before it was interrupted by an unlikely source.

“**C…couldn’t have said it better myself**.”

“Vlad??” the girl asked in surprise.

“**I should think the Observants…as well as Clockwork….argh…would be horrified to learn what was happening here…**”

Walker staggered backward, a look of angry on his face.

“**Extreme Isolation…executing inmates without due cause…fudging cases and pressing charges in domains you haven’t formally claimed…yes…I think they would be very interested in what you’ve been up to…Walker…**”

“Haven’t formally claimed?” Dani repeated.

“**Walker attempted to scare us…argh…with his claim of territory gain…but you can’t just invade certain regions because your trying to catch a fugitive…Your supposed to go through a process of negotiation to acquire territory as it is…and you won’t get that territory if all you’re trying to do is catch some criminal**.”

“Even Walker as to abide by the laws of the Ghost Zone,” the younger half ghost concluded.

“**Precisely**.”

“Be that as it may, there is no rule that saw I am unable to conduct business as I please in my own Region,” the ghostly warden pointed out.

“**Too true…but yours is a special case…argh…seeing as your Region has the Ghost Zone Prison…you can do whatever you like outside of it, but behind these walls…you have to abide by the laws that were established thousands of years ago…by the original founder of the prison…**”

“I---”

“**Or perhaps…argh…in your madness you’ve forgotten about the rules you vowed to uphold…tragic, really…**”

“That’s enough out of you, prisoner,” Walker said as he manifested another ball of energy and aimed it at the billionaire. “You’ve spoken your last.”

“No!” the blue-eyed teen fell backward and onto the floor, taking her mentor with her. The ball of energy, which had been aimed at the back of Vlad’s head, instead hit the floor just inches from the top of Dani’s. Even though the blast wasn’t going to hurt her, the face that it was so close gave.

The older man leaned up and looked Dani in the eye. The corners of his vision were coated in black with the rest of it being red. He was fighting so hard to keep himself from pouncing on Walker again, with every single cell in his body screaming for blood. Even now, he felt himself fading back into the shadows of his mind. He tilted his head and grunted, shutting his eyes and trying to stay in the moment.

“Vlad? Vlad, are you O.K.?” his little badger asked, her voice already sounding distant.

“**Danielle…argh…You are unharmed…?**”

“What? Who cares about me? You’re the one bleeding and covered in Walker’s ectoplasm!”

“**I am adequate…**” Forcing every syllable out was like walking through 5-foot high snow, just as strenuous and difficult.

“We need to get you out of here,” she said, her dulcet tones seemingly miles away.

“**Danielle…**”

“Yes, yes, what is it?” she asked rapidly in a worried fashion.

“**You’re…you’re still there…?**”

“Yes! Yes, I’m right here!”

“**You’re with me…?**”

“Right where I’m supposed to be!”

The tycoon opened his eyes. She was beneath him, concerned and with tears in her eyes, but she was there.

She was still with him.

“**You’ll always be here…?**”

“Of course I will! Is that even a serious question?” she asked as she grabbed his neck in her arms. Sure, he looked downright terrifying at the moment, but he was still Vlad---her Vlad.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she decreed, resolution mingling with the concern in her eyes. “I’ll never leave you behind.”

The older man attempted to form a warm smile, but since he couldn’t close his mouth, it looked more like a gargoyle’s grin. Even so, the younger half ghost understood him.

She always could.

“Are you O.K., now?”

“**I am unsure**,” he confessed, still straining to get the words out. “**I still feel the rage…the desire to tear him apart…**”

“But it’s over, now,” Dani reassured. “We can leave.”

“No one is walking out of here,” Walker declared, his fist igniting with green light. “Not you, Plasmius, or that miscreant Johnny 13.”

“There’s nothing you can do!” the heroine called from behind Vlad’s shoulder. “You can’t even touch us!”

“Yeah, face it John Law, you’ve lost,” Tucker teased as her hands found her hips.

“Give it up or Vlad over there will rip you limb from limb---you know, since he still kind of wants to,” Sam added.

The ghostly prison warden looked back and forth between the human children and the two half ghosts. He was outnumbered, but not outmatched. However, perhaps in this instance, he was. After all, he was unable to lay a finger on the ghost girl so long as she was in human form, and it was unlikely that she would change back now. Was his only option to let them go? Could he catch them later? If the Observants found out about this, he **would **be in huge trouble.

Maybe he should let them go.

“To be bested by the likes of you a second time…” he lamented under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Dani helped her mentor on his feet. “You’re injured too, so this is better for you in the long run.”

“Are you mocking me, ghost girl?” the ghostly authoritarian asked, his tone teetering on the edge of dangerous.

“I’m just saying that you’re not in the best of conditions to fight anymore.”

“**Heh heh…showing compassion for the enemy…you never seem to change, even when it isn’t warranted…**” the billionaire stated, supporting himself on his little badger. In truth, he still couldn’t understand her capacity for forgiveness. Walker had locked her up, separated her from the person she loved most of all, forced her to contend with her past foes without the use of her powers, and even VIOLATED her. And yet, here she was, pointing out that he was unable to fight and even indicating that further fighting would be unnecessary.

Maybe she was right.

Regardless, his bloodlust was prevailing.

The older half ghost felt his heart pound like a single thump on a drum. It suddenly felt like his entire body was on fire; his skin felt hot and his chest and throat burned and itched. His head began to ache and the billionaire couldn’t help but grunt in discomfort. He squeezed his eyes shut again as the red overtook his vision once more.

It was like drowning---drowning in a burning lake.

Murderous throats careened into his mind like crash-test dummies, with every single one of them denying him total clarity. In his mind’s eye, he saw Walker torn asunder, lying in a pool of his own ectoplasm. He saw terror frozen on his face and hopelessness reflected in his dull green eyes. It was an expression that the tycoon desperately wanted to see in real time. All the cells in his body desired this, causing them to reach out into the void of his ectoplasmic form and attempt to cloud what was left of his senses.

For the time being, it was working.

It was a bit frightening, this feeling of losing himself. Falling into the depths of his subconscious---relieving all control to his instincts---was not as liberating as he was led to believe. For him, as a control freak, the idea of surrendering completely never sounded too appealing. Vlad was the sort of person who had to be aware of everything that went on in or around him. In point of fact, he prided himself on being a rather insightful person. In this situation, of course, he was undeniably aware of what was happening inside of him, but he was in danger of falling back into the abyss of his subconscious. Which, one its own, wasn’t truly terrifying, but it was idea that he could hurt his pupil while in that state that worried him so.

He was still able to protect her though, as if his body was on autopilot.

Did that mean he didn’t have anything to worry about? Could he finish Walker off like he wanted?

But then again, was it really wise to indulge in these barbaric desires? If he did, would he remain in his animalistic state, or would he return to normal faster?

And was now really the time to test that?

He didn’t know.

“Let’s get out of here,” the computer geek recommended, looking over her shoulder and back into hallway beyond the door. “I think I hear someone coming.”

“A lot of someones,” Sam added, making out the forms of at least seven guards racing toward the cell.

“I had a feeling this wouldn’t go so smoothly,” Dani murmured before casting a glance at Walker. The ghostly prison warden wore a smirk on his face, despite that fact that he was leaning up against the back wall. His ectoplasm covered the floor and his arm hung limply at his side.

“No one has ever escaped from here,” he proclaimed. “Even if I cannot stop you, my men can at least make your attempted escape as difficult as possible.”

“Do you still believe that you’re gonna stop us?” Tucker asked with a raised eyebrow. “If you can’t touch us, what makes you think those guards can?”

“They don’t need to touch **you**,” he clarified as he slumped against the destroyed apparatus.

At the moment, all seven guards rushed into the cell, each of them wielding electrified batons. All of them surrounded the party of four, who were all facing the door. Dani glared at the guards but offered no response to their entry. Walker was still under the impression that could win this---that he could send all four of them to the Chamber. He knew that Vlad was, at this time, unable to completely control himself, meaning that he couldn’t transform back into human form.

_If one of these guys so much as moves in Vlad’s direction, he’ll attack them without even thinking about it. Given the opportunity, all seven of them will try to overpower him and haul him off to the Chamber. _

_But I won’t let that happen. _

But what could she do? In human form, she couldn’t touch them either.

In unison, the guards took a step toward them, causing Tucker, Sam, and Dani to tense up. Vlad, on the other hand, still had his eyes shut. He was jerking his head very five or so seconds, probably in an attempt to snap himself out of whatever was going on with him.

Then, the batons pulsed with electricity and the guards took another step. They wore determination upon their faces, communicating to the heroine that they weren’t backing down.

They probably didn’t know how terrifying the businessman had been.

Just then, a dark mass slithered into the room and enveloped the guards. They cried out in panic as they thrashed, trying frantically to fight off their strange attacker. It draped over them like a sheet but stuck to them like a thin layer of skin, pulling itself taut over them. If ghosts could suffocate, they all probably would have.

Dani, Sam, and Tucker gazed at the sight before them in awe.

“What the…?” the techno whiz vocalized.

“Didn’t expect that,” the goth admitted.

“But what is---?”

Before the young heroine could finish her sentence, Johnny 13’s head pocked through the doorframe, sporting quite the smirk.

“Hope I’m not too late,” he said.

“Right on time, actually,” the younger half ghost replied with a smirk of her own.

“Quick! Everyone to the Specter Speeder!” the techno geek yelled as she pointed to the vehicle in question. Without missing a beat, the trio along with Vlad and Johnny booked it to the Speeder. Walker chastised his guards and demanded that they give chase, but his orders were deafened by their on-going grapple with the black mass.

Sam threw open the door and motioned with his arm. “Everyone in!”

Dani helped the billionaire in first and then crawled in after him. Tucker hopped inside and climbed over the half ghosts to get to the stirring wheel. After that, the ghostly bad boy hopped in and was followed by the rebel teen, who shot Walker a glare before closing the passenger side door.

“Wait,” the computer geek said, “What about the Booo-erang?”

“Way ahead of you,” the black-clad teen stated as he pulled it out from his trench coat.

“Hold, up, when did you---?”

“I grabbed it when Vlad was going ape-shit on Walker,” he illuminated.

“Ah.”

“Tucker, can you get this thing moving, please?” Dani asked in assertion as she looked in the ghostly authoritarian’s direction. When their eyes met, the heroine saw disdain, but also betrayal in his green orbs. It was a look one would give their cheating spouse, or a best friend who you trusted with your secrets but went behind your back.

It was a surprise to see such a look on his face, but the blue-eyed teen remembered what Johnny claimed earlier. It didn’t seem possible but given the way he was gazing at her now, perhaps it wasn’t an entirely unreasonable assumption.

The thought sent a shiver up her spine.

“Let’s blow this joint!” the computer geek said as she activated the roar of the rockets for the second time that day. The ship turned and drifted out of the cell, and only when it was revving up to speed out of the prison did Johnny lean over Sam and out the window.

“Shadow, let’s go!”

A head with spiky hair emerged from the black sheet that was still draped over the guards. Mischievous delight flashed in its green eyes and it flew off of the guards and soared back to Johnny.

“You found it!” Dani said with a smile.

“Glad I did too,” he responded once the shadow took its place behind the ghostly bad boy. “He was gettin’ lonely in his cell. By the way, I had him get this too.”

Johnny tossed Dani both her jumpsuit and the Fenton Thermos. Elation erupted on her face at the sight of her possessions.

“Thanks so much, Johnny.”

“Eh, it’s no biggie,” the ghostly bad boy said with a shrug.

“O.K., girl, you **need** to fill us in once we get back home,” the computer geek insisted as the Specter Speeder blasted away from Solitary.

“I will, don’t worry,” the heroine replied. “But I can say this much: You just busted us out of prison!”

“I can check that off my bucket list,” Sam commented with a grin.

“Funny, I always assumed **you’d **be the one in prison one day, not Dani,” Tucker stated as she looked passed everyone to lock eyes with Sam.

“Same here,” he admitted nonchalantly.

“You? Nah, you’re pretty harmless,” Johnny joshed, gazing at the boy next to him. “You couldn’t hurt the Box Ghost.”

“Come on Johnny, Sam just helped you escape,” the ghost girl chastised with a cross of her arms. “You don’t need to tease him like that.”

“Oh, what? A kid like him can’t stand up for himself?”

“Would kicking you out of this ship and back into the prison yard count as defending myself?” the goth inquired, an unamused look on his youthful face.

“I guess it would,” the ghostly biker answered after a brief pause.

The Specter Speeder rose above the yard and flew over the prison gate, all while the dismay of the guards resonated from below. Dani had a gut feeling she’d see Walker again, but she hoped it wouldn’t be for a long time.

***************

The rest of the ride was packed with laughs, leaving Dani to assume she had escaped the Ghost Zone Prison with not only her life, but a new friend as well. Said new friend had kept them company until they reached the Region of Doors, where he thanked the trio for everything. He was more polite than Dani expected, but of course, he was still Johnny 13, so there was some vulgar language thrown in to keep things normal. He told them that he was going to find Kitty and his bike; he said that he couldn’t wait to take joyrides across the Ghost Zone again with his favorite girl at his side. After that, he took off.

The heroine was delighted to be free, but seeing Vlad still impeded by his strange power was greatly concerning to her. Once the Speeder was safely back at Fenton Works, Sam and Tucker climbed out and assisted Dani in getting the business mogul out as well. It was almost 10 o’clock, meaning that they needed to move fast. Like their super-powered friends, the geek and the goth had a curfew at 10 on the dot, and they only had fifteen minutes to get Vlad moving and then get moving themselves.

Luckily, it didn’t take them long to help Vlad out of the Specter Speeder and against the wall. His eyes were still shut, and it looked like he was holding them shut in a rather painful way. Razor sharp fangs still protruded from his mouth and his claws were still dangerous. Tucker marveled at his long hair, saying that it looked nice that way---adding that it was a shame it didn’t look like that in his normal ghost form.

Dani attempted to urge him into changing back, but he merely continued to grunt and shake his head. Could he even hear her?

Sam, never being one for subtly, tried to slap some sense into him, but instead of making contact with the older man’s cheek his hand was caught by the billionaire. It surprised the trio, that he could move so fast with his eyes closed. Whatever this power was, it must have drastically enhanced his instincts.

“What should we do?” Tucker asked in concern.

“I don’t know, but I suggest we do it quickly,” the rebel recommended as he tried to pull his hand free.

“But we’re out of the prison and Walker didn’t follow us, so I don’t know why he isn’t changing back,” the ghost girl said with worried eyes.

“Maybe he can’t?” the computer geek put forth.

“But how could that be?”

The techno whiz gave a shrug.

After tugging a few times, the nonconformist finally managed to pull himself free. Looking at the boy’s free appendage, all three of them saw an angry, red hand print wrapping all the way around his wrist and hand.

“He’s got quite the grip,” Tucker remarked.

“No kidding,” the goth said with a furrowed brow. “People are gonna think I’m getting abused or something.”

“I just don’t understand,” Dani stated, dumbfounded, before looking back at her mentor. “Why isn’t he changing back?”

“Could it have something to do with what he asked you earlier, about you being there?” the geek asked.

“How is that in any way connected?” Sam questioned in skepticism.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”

“Something to do with me being there…” the ghost girl repeated in a mutter. Did he not think she was there anymore? Could be not see or hear her somehow?

He **had **been awfully quiet on the back here.

Then again, he looked more like he was in pain, perhaps from holding something back? Was the beastly nature he displayed at the prison still there even now? Was he trying to protect them by not doing or saying anything? Was it so bad that even a little loss of effort would cause him to lose himself again?

“What the hell is this power…?”

Suddenly, Vlad jerked violently, startling the trio. He growled and placed his hand to his face, muffling the sound coming from the back of his throat.

_I knew it! He’s holding himself back. _

“Is he gonna be O.K.?” the computer geek asked.

“Are we gonna be O.K. being near him?” the rebel teen questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Dani stepped over to her mentor and kneeled down in front of him.

“Vlad?”

He only seemed to growl more. Now he was holding his throat and breathing rapidly.

“Vlad, what’s going on? Is there something I can do?” she asked, with her tone quivering a little.

The older half ghost struggled to stand, inciting Dani to hold him up by his armpit as he rose. The geek and the goth looked on as the tycoon fumbled for something and then simply rested his hand on the wall behind him.

“**Danielle…**” he struggled to say. He voice was raspy, like his throat was dry.

“Yes? Yes, I’m here,” she replied.

“**Quickly…I need…need…**”

“What is it? Water? Tea? A place to lie down?”

He shook his head. “**I need you….to take…argh…to take me back home…**”

“That’s gonna be a little hard to do, what with your condition,” Sam pointed out cooly.

“Besides, dude, you live all the way across town,” Tucker stated. “How are we supposed to drag your carcass all the way to Mayor’s Grove when we have to be home in like, five minutes?”

“Wait, seriously---?” Dani asked as she looked at the clock above her. “Oh crap! You guys gotta go! I’ll handle this.”

“No way am I leaving you to deal with **that **by yourself,” the rebel declared.

“Sam, it’s fine,” the heroine insisted. “I don’t want you guys to get in trouble. I’ll be fine.”

“Sounds good to me,” the computer geek said before heading for the stairs.

“You can’t be serious,” the black-clad boy said in disbelief as he eyes followed the geek.

“As serious as my punishment will be if I don’t get home on time,” Tucker responded, looking over her shoulder. “Dani said she’ll be fine, and besides, she’s the one with the ghost powers. We’d only get in the way.”

With that, Tucker disappeared up the stairs. After a loud groan, Sam turned back to Dani.

“Call me if something happens.”

Then he too disappeared up the stairs, though he did so at a dead sprint.

Once Dani heard the front door close, she looked back at her mentor.

“O.K., I can get you home,” she said calmly. “I just hope I can make it back before my parents notice I’m missing.”

White rings appeared at her midsection, changing her back into Dani Phantom. She used her free arm to secure a hold over his chest and the arm that was under his arm simply held him tighter. Turning intangible, she thought she heard another growl from him. Then she flew up and out of the lab, taking to the night sky. She rocketed across town and phased through the ceiling of her mentor’s pompous residence. Once inside, she led him to the couch in the living room and laid him down upon it. He was still holding his neck and breathing quickly, mirroring a parched marathoner. With concern adorning her brow, Dani kneeled next to the business mogul and stroked his long black tresses. They were not silky to the touch, but wirey, despite their soft appearance. The heroine didn’t know what to do; it was evident that he was in great discomfort, but she didn’t know how to help him or get him to transform back. She could slap him, but that would probably yield the same result as when Sam tried it.

That, and she didn’t want to actually hit him.

The heroine then went to stroke his cheek with her hand, but as soon as she did this, Plasmius grabbed it with lightning speed. In addition, his eyes shot open, and his tiny red pupil served in her direction. It made her heart pound in fright, seeing this happen so suddenly. Those pupils flashed red and then Vlad shut his eyes again, emitting a frustrated grunt as he did.

“Vlad? Vlad, tell me what’s wrong,” the girl requested, but it was almost like a plea.

“**I can’t…I can’t…see you…**”

“I’m right here!” she declared as she grabbed the hand holding hers and placed it to her sternum. “I’m right here, Vlad! I’m not going anywhere, remember?”

“**I know you’re there…but…argh…but all I can…argh! All I can see is red…**”

“Can’t you change back?”

“**I can barely…argh..speak to you as it is…**”

“Try!” she implored. “Please, just try.”

“**It’s…it’s taking every ounce of my strength to keep…to keep myself tame…**”

“Vlad…” Dani began, her eyes filling with disquiet. “What’s happening to you?”

The older man’s eyes popped open again and he gasped. He dug into his neck as well as the back if Dani’s hand. She winced, but grabbed Vlad’s other hand and pried it away from his throat.

“Don’t! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

The tycoon’s pupils darted to the girl’s hand, were four tiny dots of green bled through her white gloves.

“**You…you need to leave…**”

“No! I’m not going anywhere, not while you’re like this!” she protested.

“**Please…Danielle…I don’t want to hurt you…**”

“You’ll be hurting me if you shoo me away,” she proclaimed.

“**Samuel was right to be concerned…**” the billionaire stated as he cast his gaze to the rug. “**I…argh…I’m dangerous…**”

“I don’t care, I’m not leaving.”

“**You don’t understand…**”

“So help me understand! Tell me what’s happening!”

He paused, watching the floor before looking back up at her. His vision was caked in red, with blackness coating the edges again and even expanding. Dani’s cries were little more than distance whispers, but he held on. Whatever was doing this to him, it would not prevail. If it was indeed this new, strange power, he would learn to overcome it.

He had to.

“**I…I can feel…I can feel the desire to kill…**” he explained. “**It’s clawing at me…clawing at my very being…it…argh! It’s angry…it’s wrathful…it wants to tear Walker limb from limb…**”

“But we’ve left the Ghost Zone. Walker isn’t a problem anymore.”

“**He touched you…**”

“Well, yeah, but that was---”

“**He violated you…**”

“I mean, maybe, but we still---”

“**He dared to touch you in front of me---**”

The older half ghost growled loudly and uncontrollably as his pupils flashed red. He threw Dani into him and held her flush against his large frame. His arms possessed a strength that eliminated any chance of escape, and though this normally wouldn’t scare her, Vlad’s current condition made it difficult for her not be to scared.

“**Slimy rat…bloody fool…**” he said in anger.

“Vlad, it’s O.K.,” the heroine stated in a cautious tone. “Walker is back in the Ghost Zone. He can’t get to me now.”

“**He wants to possess you…to defile you…**”

“W-what?? I-I wouldn’t know about that---”

“**You belong to me**,” he asserted, holding even tighter. “**You’re mine**!”

“Vlad…”

His tone sounded stronger. Was he gaining some strength back, maybe?

“I do,” she said, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. “I do belong to you…”

He was silent, so she took the opportunity to embrace him back by snaking her arms around his neck.

“And you belong to me.”

She looked him right in his eyes. He was still frightening, but she wasn’t going to look away. Behind this monstrous façade was the man she loved and she knew she could draw him back out again, even if it took all night.

Hopefully it didn’t.

“You’re mine too, Vlad,” she declared, her blush deepening but she refused to give in to embarrassment. “And I don’t care what your powers are doing or what you look like when they’re on the fritz---I’m not leaving you alone and I’m not going to let you suffer like this. I’ll figure something out, so…”

He gazed at her with surprised eyes.

“**Danielle…You…**”

“I love you,” she said before hugging him. “So, count on me, O.K.?”

Plasmius gave a hearty chuckle. “**I seem to make a habit of underestimating you.**”

He took a deep breath, letting air into his lungs. It felt good, like he was taking in much needed oxygen after holding a breath for too long. Had he done so?

When he exhaled, he felt a heavy weight drift off with his breath. At the same time, however, he felt his eyes slide shut and his mind went blank. The tycoon fell limp against the young heroine, igniting a new sense of worry in her.

“Vlad? Vlad, are you O.K.?”

She pulled away enough to get a look at his face. It looked like he was merely sleeping; his mouth was still open, but instead of taking ungraceful or ragged breaths, he was inhaling and exhaling peacefully. His face looked relaxed as well, no longer bearing the tension of an animal trying to resist its nature. Then, black rings appeared at his mid-section and he transformed back into Vlad Masters.

Dani gently laid him down on the couch, taking care to not wake him. As his chest fell up and down, the ghost girl rested her arms next to the older man’s large and slumbering frame. She placed her cheek upon her arms and watched him with tender eyes. Then she noticed a dried trickle of red coming from just under his hairline. He had been wounded in his ghost form, but now the cut had clotted, and the bleeding had stopped.

_I guess wounds transfer over to our human forms too. Good to know. _

She looked over to the end of the couch and found a neatly folded knitted blanket. Dani walked over to it, picked it up, and stepped back over to her mentor and draped it over him. When she consulted the clock on the wall, she found that it was well after 10---it was 10:15.

“Shoot,” she muttered.

She didn’t want to leave without saying anything, but she would be in massive trouble if she didn’t hurry home.

Any more than she already was, of course.

“Maybe they haven’t noticed yet,” the heroine conjected in a quiet voice.

She looked back at Vlad, her heart filling with warmth by the very sight of him. The younger half ghost leaned down and kissed him on the lips, feeling her face heat up as she did this.

“See you later,” she whispered.

Turning intangible, she witnessed a quaint smile form on the businessman’s handsome face. As a dopy smile spread across hers, she flew up through the ceiling and out into the night. She took off then, knowing that her mentor was going to be just fine in the morning.

But she, on the other hand, would have to deal with her parent’s ire well **into **the morning.

She let out a hefty sigh.


End file.
